Against The Odds
by Bones365
Summary: Ginny is furious when her family hires Agent Harry Potter as her bodyguard. But, as the threat levels rise, so does the chemistry between them. Will they succumb to the heat between them and, against all odds, forget the past to find a future? AU.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey everybody! When one of my last stories, Harry Bloody Potter, went up, someone suggested that write some Alternate Universe stuff. The thought really intrigued me, and so here it is: my first AU fic ever. Ever! I hope I do it right. No copyright infringement intended._

_This story was originally set in London, but I've been told (and I agree), that me kinda-sorta putting them in London but not really doesn't really work, so instead, we're going to move to upstate New York. Yes? Yes! Ok then, here we go…._

Ginny stared in disbelief at the officer in front of her, then her eyes swung to her father. Arthur Weasley was not an extraordinary man by any stretch of the imagination, but when he put his foot down, his real, honest to God, head-of-the-family foot down... The jig was up.

This was how Ginny was seeing him now. _In a fit of fatherly insanity_. She thought to herself.

"This is insane." She told him, echoing the thought in her head. "It's just a bit of…just a couple of…you can't be taking this seriously." Her eyes now found the Captain of New York's finest. He shook his head harshly.

"I assure you we are, Miss Weasley. We don't take death threats lightly. And honestly, neither should you. The facts are that on top of your family's widespread fame," (Ginny scoffed here) "You're father's status as a government employee," ('A lower level employee!') "And your own fame, we don't have another choice."

"But a bodyguard? That seems extreme-" She started, tossing her bright red hair over her shoulder, but her father cut her off.

"And your mother and I have already made up our minds." He looked meaningfully at her.

"Mom knows?" She had to work to keep her voice down. "Dad, why? I told you that I was fine. All mom does is worry."

"She has a right to be worried, Ginny. When some lunatic begins to threaten your daughter's life, it's a natural reaction."

Ginny stamped her foot and knew her face was growing red. _Weasley genes_. She thought, mutinously. Though, she couldn't see how her father was being so calm about all this. It was the one thing none of the kids had taken from their dad. They all got flustered and enraged when threatened or upset. Arthur was standing there, cool as a cucumber, ready to take whatever she threw at him. And he knew Ginny would throw quite a bit.

"Well, still. I told you, I have it under control." Ginny spoke around gritted teeth, and she couldn't help but notice that the Captain was holding back a smirk as he penned his signature and who knows what else on her paperwork.

"You've received four threats in two weeks, Ginny. And what have you done about it?" Arthur waited for her to answer, but she just turned a darker shade of red. "Exactly. You can't just sit around and expect for this to go away. I won't just disappear like magic, sweetheart."

"Miss Weasley, I assure you, this will be over as quickly as we can work. This case is our top priority." Captain smarty-pants chimed in. "It should only take a couple of weeks. Tops. And we've paired you with one of our best surveillance officers. He's very discreet."

Ginny's only response was to scowl at him. How was she supposed to reply? She didn't want a bodyguard. Didn't _need_ one. She was being pushed and prodded into this ridiculous scenario by everyone around her. Her parents, her co-workers, her boss. Now Captain smarty-pants. She glared up at her father, but he was doing a wonderful impression of someone who has no idea that their daughter wanted to murder them. A knock on the door interrupted her brooding thoughts.

"Come in." Smarty-pants called out, and the door opened on a young, dark-haired officer. Ginny leaped out of her seat and got as close to Captain Smarty-pants's face as she could with a desk between them.

"How is _he_ at all _discreet_? He's a bloody hero! I write more pieces on him a month than I do on football. _And I'm a sports writer_!" She was practically screaming now. "I don't want him! Send him back. He'll do you more good on the force. Give me someone else. Pudgy! Bald! Older than God! I don't care, but I'm not taking _that one_! In fact, let's just call the whole thing off. It's clearly not working."

Ginny grabbed her purse and swung around, headed as quickly to the door as she could. She moved so fast that Captain S.M. and her father hadn't even registered where she was going. But her new bodyguard was a bit quicker on his feet than they were. Before her father's voice had started calling after her, he had moved to block the door so she couldn't exit.

And she couldn't. The man was solid, she'd give him that. He was tall and built, wearing all black and wide enough so that he did, actually, fill up the door completely. She glared at him, but he only gazed back, expressionless, and crossed his arms over his chest. His biceps were as thick as her neck, and that fact only served to make her scowl deeper.

"Ginny." Her father was saying behind her. His voice was stern. "Get back here. There's no need for hysterics. This is just a precaution. And only for a couple of weeks." While Captain S.M. jumped to assure her father of the expediency the team would use to solve her case, Ginny continued to stare at her new Bodyguard.

Harry Potter.

What luck. She'd be stuck with the man that most girls would pay money to spend a few weeks with. And from the way he was looking at her, his face completely stony with only a hint of a smirk, she figured he knew very well exactly what most girls thought of him. He held her gaze, neither of them blinking. His eyebrow twitched.

"I don't need to draw more attention to myself. If I get a personal guard, whoever's threatening me will just think that I'm getting scared. That they're getting to me." Ginny tried to keep her voice as level and calm as possible. Harry's twitchy eyebrow jumped up, questioning. She could read exactly what his incredulous expression said. _'And they're not getting to you? Yeah right.'_

"No, Potter. They're not!" his eyebrows snapped back to attention, all business once again. Ginny didn't know if it was her use of his name, or the tone with which she said it that got him rankled, but now, even his smirk was gone.

"Sweetheart, I asked for Harry specifically. I know he's a bit more…public than you'd like, but the person writing these threats needs to know that we're taking them seriously."

"And Agent Potter is the best that we have. You must have seen things about his outstanding work with-"

"I know about his _outstanding work_." Ginny scoffed, cutting of the Captain. There was a long pause. Her father and Smarty-Pants seemed to be silently working something out behind her. She didn't care. She was going to win this bloody staring contest if it was the last thing she did. Sill nothing from Agent Potter. She was starting to think that he was more governmental-robot than actually human.

"Ginny, dear…" She heard and felt immediately guilty at the sound of tired resignation in her father's voice. "if you would just do this…for your mother and me. We're worried. The whole family's worried. I had to talk your brothers out of alternating days off work to watch out for you. This is, besides catching the person threatening you, the only thing that will make us feel better."

Ginny's eyes flickered to the floor and landed on Agent Potter's shoes. She felt ashamed. She'd been so caught up in trying to care for herself that she'd forgotten how many people there were that cared about her, too. Of course they were worried. If this were happening to any of her friends or family, she'd be out of her mind. She could at least do this one thing for the people that raised her.

"Ginny." Her father called softly. Her eyes snapped back up to Agent Potter's. His expression hadn't changed, but his eyes seemed a bit…harder than they had been a moment ago. Before Ginny could place the new look, he scoffed.

"Daddy's calling." He growled at her. Yes, growled. Because no other word could have described the low, mocking rumble that emanated from his mouth. They were the first word's he'd said to her and it seemed fitting, she thought.

_Because the only thing we could possibly talk about, agree on, or have in common, is my father._ With that thought, she scowled at him deeply, then turned and stomped back to Captain S.M.'s desk to sign paperwork.


	2. Chapter 2

_Ok, here's chapter 2. Tell me what you think of it so far. Thanks for reading!_

By the time Ginny had crossed all the t's and dotted all the I's, her bpdyguard and his Captain had the blueprints to her apartment building and office building, the route she took to work, her parents' and all of her brothers' houses, her favorite bar, her best friend's flat, and the coffee shop she got her bagels from.

She sat wearily next to her father as Potter fired question after question at him and Captain Smarty-pants who, Ginny had learned, was really named Shacklebolt. Ginny's mind whirred and her head spun, trying to wrap around the fact that her life was being invaded. Quickly. They'd already re-routed her walk from home to work, re-worked her scheduled meetings with her editor, and put a security search on her mail. She wished that she could go home, alone, and take a hot bath and have a glass of wine. This was not working out in her favor.

"What?" She jerked upright, her aching head picking up a line of conversation from Shacklebolt that she did not want to hear.

"Agent Potter's belongings are en route to your apartment now." The Captain repeated.

"You mean…You mean it's going to be there when I…we get home? Someone's going to be in my house when I'm not there?" She kept her voice as flat as possible, when all she wanted to do was squeak in hysterics. There was "no need" for that, according to her father.

"Well, there's going to be someone there night and day from here on out, so you should get used to the idea." Agent Potter said evenly, flipping through the maps of her brother, Bill's, house. "While I've got your attention, is there a secondary entrance to your office's basement?" He looked up expectantly at her.

"I've never been in my office basement." She hissed at him. It seemed that whatever control she'd gotten over the past hour, she lost it completely when this infuriating man so much as looked at her.

"We'll take a look tomorrow. What about the balcony at your apartment. What does it look out on?"

"It looks out on the park across the street, but it's above the tree line, so there's low visibility from the ground." She plopped her head in her hands, ready for this to be over.

"What's your main mode of transportation?" He asked her, still firing questions despite her obvious fatigue.

"Walking or taxi."

"I'll need to put in a work order for an official squad car-"

"No! I don't need an official squad car. It just draws more attention. I'll rent a car, if I have to, but I refuse to be chauffeured around in some black-and-white patrol car. Furthermore, if you have any more questions for me, they may be directed to me in my own home. I'm done here. Is that all?" She rose and looked expectantly at her father, who could see that she'd reached her limits. He nodded slowly at Shacklebolt.

"If you've got anymore questions…" He started, but Harry cut him off.

"Who is Dean Thomas?"

Ginny froze. That was the last name she'd ever expected to come out of her new bodyguard's mouth. She spun on him and gave him the meanest look she could muster. The one that sent even her oldest brother cowering towards the door. Or their mum.

Harry seemed unaffected. Once again, he gazed back, expressionless, waiting for her answer. There was a heavy silence in the office before her father broke it.

"Who is Dean Thomas? Ginny, are you seeing someone?" She could hear the confusion in his voice.

"No." She spat out, eyes still locked on Potter's. It seemed that he liked to have little staring contests with her. That's fine. She had a feeling they'd be looking at each other a lot, soon. They might as well get competitive.

"According to my records you had dinner with him at Chez Blanc last Tuesday before you both went back to your apartment on 800 Winchester where he spent the night, before leaving at around six the next morning." All that and hardly a twitch from the man. Ginny, on the other hand, was livid and shaking. She could practically hear the heart attack that her father was having behind her.

"Your records?" She asked, calmly. Potter nodded. Ginny counted to ten and took two huge, deep breaths. "Well, you can go ahead and scratch that off the "record", as I'll no longer be in contact with Mr. Thomas." Ginny turned on her heel, avoiding her father's eyes.

"I'm going home." She announced. "Try and keep up." And with that, she walked calmly, and with as much grace as she could muster, out the door.

oOo

For a moment, Harry didn't know what to do. It was not a feeling that he was used to, or fond of. What he was used to was being in control, and he was fond of people following his orders. Neither of those things were happening, at the moment. As Ginny, _Miss Weasley_, he reminded himself, walked out the door, he lost sight of her.

He immediately sprang into action, crossing to the door quickly to catch up to her. He could have sworn he heard Kingsly laugh, but he didn't have time to dwell on that. Ahead, he could just see her in the side of the elevator, the doors closing in front of her.

Taking on a burst of speed, he thrust his hand in the doors right before they closed. As the doors re-opened, the only response he got from Miss Weasley was a scornful eye-roll before she looked away. Which afforded him the perfect opportunity to look at her a little bit closer.

She was pretty, but he'd known that for years. Yes, he was a soccer fan, and yes, he had one of her posters stashed away somewhere in the clutter of his closet. He remembered it well. It had hung in his bunk at base camp for over two years while he'd been training. It had not been the only copy of the poster floating around, either.

It depicted a seemingly scandalized Miss Weasley in a steamy locker room, clad in nothing but a very small pair of very lacy underwear, and holding two soccer balls tactfully over her chest. But even behind the balls, the viewer could still see the full curves of her breasts. And they could definitely see her sleek, athletic body and tight curves. Yeah, Harry hadn't been the only one with that poster.

But no matter how pretty she was or how many things Harry had imagined doing to that tight body during some lonely nights, it didn't erase the fact that she was a media whore, a spoiled brat, and an impediment to his work. If she was going to make things hard every step of the way, then he'd just have to pick her up, sling her over his shoulder, and haul her up the whole flight of steps.

The elevator dinged and opened onto a ground level. Ginny stepped out into the hall without even a glance in his direction. It was later than Harry had thought, and it was getting dark outside, but even that wouldn't slow Ginny down. She charged down the street quickly, leaving Harry to keep up. But luckily his legs were long, and he settled himself into a quick, easy stride about two feet behind her. He tried not to look at her lush, pert behind, and forced his thoughts again to her case.

He had to say that he was surprised by her grit. From what the papers said, Ginny Weasley was a total pushover. She'd been raised being spoiled by 6 older brothers and her parents practically revered her, which was not hard to see. One only had to take a look at Harry's paycheck to know exactly how much their little girl's life was worth to them, and it was no small sum.

But, she wasn't used to small sums. She'd been brought up in the lap of luxury. She coasted by on her family's, mainly her mother's, fame and got a job playing soccer. From then, she'd jumped from boyfriend to boyfriend, only dating the upper crust of society's elite, before settling down to a rather lucrative sports writing contract.

Harry scoffed as they turned the corner. This girl had never really known anything about "grit" in her life. She'd never had to watch her friends, comrades in arms, die right in front of her. She didn't know what it was like to walk out of your apartment most days and not know if you'd be back. She would never have to consider these things, and more, in the ways he had. So why did he think that maybe he'd met his match with her?

Turning quickly into the entrance of her building, she charged up the stairs. Harry told himself that he really had no choice but to look up as he walked. Up at her ass, her really, very nicely shaped legs, a little bit up her skirt…

"Special Agent Potter, sir." His head snapped up at Finnegan, a young recruit who was posted outside the door to apartment number 12a.

"Still there, are you?" Ginny scowled back at him before shouldering open the door and slamming it shut behind her. Finnegan whistled.

"Yeah." Harry said, staring at the door and knowing she'd locked it behind her. "That about sums it up."

"I thought she'd requested you specifically?" Finnegan sounded genuinely surprised.

Harry had to admit that he was, too. He'd thought that he'd be going up against some spoiled, media darling, who'd been using some bogus death threats to try and score a week or two with the "Famous Harry Potter". He'd also admit that when he'd thought this, his opinion of her had gone down tremendously. The fact that she didn't want him anywhere near her at all changed things.

"The request came from her dad. Apparently she'd prefer someone fat and bald to take over for me." Harry replied, stepping close to the door and testing the handle. Locked.

"But, she's a girl!" Finnegan spluttered, as if that explained everything and nothing. Harry grimaced and stepped back to look at the door hinges. They were inside the frame, which wouldn't do him any good out here, but was slightly better for general security purposes.

"Well, apparently she's a girl that has no need for my 'fame and fortune'." Harry replied sarcastically. Finnegan laughed, knowing that Harry didn't really count himself famous _or_ fortunate in any way. Frankly, it was oddly refreshing for Harry, to meet a person that didn't fall all over him. He bent to examine the door lock. There was only one. Harry made a mental note to fix that in the morning.

"How's your girl, Seamus?" He asked, shouldering off his jacket and releasing his gun from the holster on his chest. _I might as well make an entrance_. Harry thought wryly. _Maybe that will get a bit of my point through_.

"Lavender's great! She's a bit clingy, but sometimes a bloke likes coming home to something."

Harry nodded absently. "I wouldn't know what you mean, but I believe you. Seamus, would you stand back a bit for me?" He asked, draping his jacket over the chair Seamus vacated.

On the count of three in his head, Harry reared back and kicked the door. Hard. Hard enough that it bounced free of its lock, and swung back on its hinges to hit the wall. Harry moved forward smoothly, gun up.

Ginny was gaping at him from behind a long island in the kitchen. After pretending to case the room a bit, stalking around low, in what he'd been told was a menacing manner, he yelled, "Clear!" to Seamus, who ambled in, grinning, before leaving today's mail on the small table next to the couch.

"Are you insane?" Ginny yelled at him as Seamus closed the door behind himself. "You just almost kicked my door off its hinges! What if there had been some art behind there, or a mirror! What if I'd been naked…!" Ginny stopped to take a gulp of the rather large glass of wine in front of her. "This is an invasion of privacy and destruction of private property!"

Ginny stopped to gawp at him some more. He settled next to the door, arms loosely folded over his chest, feet firmly planted. Surveillance stance. To be honest, he didn't care what she thought of him. He knew he hadn't destroyed anything, and she was just pissy that he'd found a way to get past her lock. Singular lock, as if that could stop him.

"What? Nothing to say? No justifications for just scaring the crap out of me and possibly killing my living room?" She demanded, turning a rather delightful shade of red. He stayed quiet, still. He didn't owe her anything. He was there for the job, as a personal favor to Kingsley Shacklebolt. His silence seemed to infuriate her more, which, if he was being honest, was what he'd been after to begin with. He was completely in control. She was not. The faster she'd figure that out, the better off they'd be.

"Oh, so as long as you're not in front of your big bad commander you have no thoughts of your own? Is that it? Your biceps needed more room to grow so they started taking up residence in your head." He stared ahead blankly. He would not allow this to get to him. She was a child grasping at straws.

She crossed behind the counter and stalked over to him, poking him in the chest and sloshing a bit of wine on his shirt.

"I know that you're trying to play this whole 'macho in-control man' act, but you should know, that I don't give a damn. As far as I'm concerned, you're in _my_ house, intruding on _my_ life, and messing with _my_ schedule. You can tell yourself every day how tough you are, because I certainly won't. If you want to impress me or scare me, either solve this case or put that gun to my head, because those are the only two options that will get you anywhere with me."

Harry blinked at a point over her head he'd been staring at. His facial expression remained the same, but he had to hold back a grin. His new charge had spunk, gumption, and lots of it. If he hadn't been the one taking all the hits, he'd have been rolling on the floor laughing. As it was, she was undercutting his power play, and he had to stop it.

He grabbed her wrist as she turned away.

"Miss Weasley, you should know that I'm not one for idle chatter. I'm here to be your bodyguard, not your best friend. You can find other people to talk to, and if you've got trouble with that, maybe you should look into getting a cat." Her eyes narrowed at him and she opened her mouth, but he was not finished.

"Ma'am , I could care less what you think of me or my masculinity. I also don't care at all about your privacy, impressing, or scaring you. When you are on one side of a door and I'm on the other, if I can't get through that door, it's an impediment to your security and my job. And that's all this is for me. Don't think for a second that this is about you or your father. This is a job for me, and only a job. That's all this will ever be to me and when it's over, I'll walk away with my 'macho in-control man act' and you'll walk away alive. That's all you ever need to know. Conversation is irrelevant."

He released her arm and suppressed a smirk as he got back to staring at that spot above her head. _Take that, Weasley_. He thought. He'd stunned her just as much as she'd stunned him. As far as he could tell, they were more than evenly matched, and the scoreboard was currently 1-1.

For a long moment, Ginny stood there, disbelieving. Finally, though, her shoulders caved in a little and her eyes were cast down. She brought the back of her hand up to her eyes as if to block out the light.

"Is that all, Agent Potter?" She brushed her crimson hair out of her faced and lifted her head to him, resigned but still strong.

His eyes flicked from her large, brown eyes to the dark circles under them to her freckles standing out over her pale skin. He nodded, suddenly not feeling proud of himself at all.


	3. Chapter 3

_Ok, here we go, Chapter 3! I hope you guys like it so far, but if you don't, I love constructive criticism. I need guidance here, dear readers! Get brutal…but in a nice way. Thanks! _

Ginny stretched in her bed, and for one, blissful moment, all she knew was the soft cotton sheets and the clean smell of her favorite detergent. But that moment was over fairly quickly. The events from yesterday came crashing down on her. There was a man in her apartment. And not in the good way.

Staring at her ceiling, she had no choice but to face the facts. The facts were that this man, _Potter_, wasn't going anywhere. And he was determined to be as ornery as possible. _And you haven't done anything to deserve that_. She thought to herself.

Ok, true, she could have been…ok fine!_ Should_ have been much nicer. Disgusted with herself, Ginny tore off the covers and rolled her feet to the floor. Stepping into her bathroom, she decided that she would wash off all ill will towards Agent Potter, just rinse it right down the drain. He'd been right, if a little gruff, yesterday when he'd told her that this was just a job. She sighed and stared at herself in the mirror, turning on the sink taps.

She knew that he'd been right to humiliate her. Someone needed to put her in her place. _You were acting like a complete git!_ She told herself, rinsing off her face wash and reaching for a towel. _The least you can do is try and make him a little bit at home here._ She turned the water off and nodded firmly at herself in the mirror, vowing to start over with Agent Potter.

She quickly pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a sports bra under her favorite workout top. Opening her door, the sweet, welcome smell of strong coffee wafted to her. _Maybe Potter's doing some apologizing of his own…_ She thought, feeling suddenly better about her predicament. They could at least try and get along, just a bit. That would certainly make this easier.

But as she stepped into the kitchen, there was no sign of Potter. There was, however, a full pot of coffee with two mugs laid out next to it. One, her favorite, with her name printed across the top and the emblem for her old soccer team, the Western New York Flash, and another, presumably his, with the police emblem inked in gold across it.

_Isn't this domestic?_ She thought, filling up her mug and tilting her head, hearing a whirr come from her workout room. He'd found her treadmill, it seemed. She stepped into the sneakers that she'd set by the front door yesterday. She might as well start now with the new peace pact she'd created. But all thoughts of peace flew out of her head as soon as she entered the doorway of the spare bedroom that housed her weights, treadmill, and yoga mat.

She'd been right about Potter's biceps. They were huge. Then again, so was the rest of him. He ran with long strides, hardly even winded. He also ran shirtless. Ginny's mind stalled as she watched his abs ripple with his movements. A bead of sweat ran from the base of his neck down…down…down. Everything about him as sleek and strong. He had muscles in places that she didn't even know muscles existed in. Her eyes followed the little bead of sweat across his lean stomach, but snapped up to his when she realized she was staring, goggling, really.

He was smirking at her, and she was at least glad that he was using his face muscles again. She'd gotten sick of the stone cold gaze pretty quickly yesterday. She cleared her throat.

"Thanks for the coffee." She said, tipping her cup to him. He blinked at her and nodded minutely. She waited a few seconds before continuing.

"Listen, I think we really got off on the wrong foot yesterday. I just, well, I got really stressed out with all the changes and I tend to lash out at people when I'm stressed. You were absolutely right. This is just a job, and the least we can do is be civil to each other." She finished, looking up at him expectantly. His expressionless mask slid into place again, however, and she could not see what she'd done to put it there. All he did was press the 'stop' button on the treadmill and nod at her as he walked over to the weights and pull-up bar.

"Is that…is that all? You're seriously not going to talk to me. Even though we're living together?" She was stunned. The coffee! It was supposed to be some sort of peace offering, but he was acting just like he had last night. All he did was raise his eyebrows at her and picked up the 40 pound weights. She scoffed at him before climbing up on the treadmill, placing her coffee in the cup holder. She had yet to take a sip of it, but she didn't want his fake-pity coffee. She'd rather pour it over his head.

She took a deep breath while contemplating the buttons in front of her. He'd used her pre-set run, so all she had to do was re-start it. She sighed and looked at him, curling the 40s, keeping to himself.

"Ok, fine. If that's what you're going to do, I can't control you. But I assure you that I intend to remain friendly, even if you're not." She grabbed her mug and made a big show of taking a sip. She gasped. "This is actually really good!" She said with more enthusiasm than she'd intended. He snorted before he could stop himself.

"See! There's a reaction, already. I'm making progress."She grinned at him, replacing her mug and hitting the start button. "I'll wear you down yet, Potter. It _is_ good coffee." She said, feeling her body relax into the steady rhythm of her morning run.

oOo

By the time both of them had showered and dressed, Harry was thoroughly amused. It seemed that Ginny was serious about her threats to be as friendly as possible. He'd come out of her guest bedroom to find her cutting up a banana and plopping the pieces into two bowls of cereal. She pushed one towards her when she was done, but he ignored her and stepped into his surveillance position beside the couch. Her eyes caught his for a moment, and she seemed to take a steadying breath.

"Well, it's at least there when you want it." She said, breezily. She dove her own spoon into the bowl. She looked shockingly good in a thin, green blouse and tight, black pencil skirt. _Though,_ Harry thought, _not nearly as good at she'd looked in those tight pants and strappy top she'd worked out in._ He sighed inwardly, reminding himself, again, that this was _just_ a job.

But, when he'd woken up last night to a raging hard-on, he'd let himself forget, for just five minutes, that this was strictly professional. He'd taken care of himself, remembering that bloody poster, and then promptly headed for a cold shower. That could not happen again. And the coffee…Well, he'd admit that he wanted to make up some for his remarks last night.

When he'd made it this morning, he'd needed to find a way to tell her that she was welcome to the brew he'd made. It was, in fact, her own grounds and machine. He'd just assembled the correct pieces and added his favorite secret ingredient. The mug with her name had been a lucky find.

Because after last night, talking to her was certainly out of the question. He needed to continue to show her that he wasn't a pushover. He was in charge, and he'd prove it, even if he had to stay silent for the next month. Also, there was the small fact that he was more attracted to her than he'd been to anyone in a long time. Possibly ever. Her fiery response to him, even when she was taking him down several notches with nothing but her mouth and that terribly effective glare…And it was terribly effective. The way she narrowed those velvet brown eyes, pursed her full lips. It turned him on as much as it warned him off. He could barely keep his eyes off of her when they were in the same room, no matter how much she scowled at him.

"So, I'm supposed to go to my parent's house tonight, for dinner. Well, _we're_ supposed to go, I should say. Is that alright, or will it need more time for an official walk-through?" Ginny stared up at him, waiting for a response. Harry was glad for the distraction. Any more thoughts like the ones he'd been having and he'd have to excuse himself. _It's not your fault, _he tried to reassure himself. _You've been fantasizing about her for over four years now. You can't be blamed that it's worse now that you're actually with her…_

Right. He cocked his head to the side and tried to give her a look that told her not to expect a response from him. She waved her spoon at him.

"We'll have to make some sort of system, if you're going to continue this…show of…power? I don't know what it is, but you should know I think it's mental. How about this, blink once for yes, twice for no. That's a nice compromise, don't you think? Oh, no, no, no!" She looked rather excited all of the sudden. "If it's a yes, tug on your ear, and if it's no, pretend to scratch your nose! That's much more secret agent-y, don't you think?" She looked at him, grinning broadly.

He had to hold in his laughter, and wasn't quite sure that he was keeping all of the amusement of his face. She waited a long moment, but he refused to give in. Once he began bowing to her silly whims, she was sure to take advantage of him.

_She does that all the time, doesn't she?_ He reminded himself. _Takes men in, then dumps them on their asses as soon as she's done with them._ Well, she wasn't going to get rid of him on one of her spoiled whims. He was here to stay, and to prove it, he was going to stay silent for as long as possible. No communication, not even silly hand motions.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Ginny called out, but Harry gave her his fiercest look. No wonder she needed a bodyguard, if she was receiving death threats and still let just anyone into her home without looking. He crossed to the door and looked through the peep hole. It was Dawlish, another officer. He unlatched the three new locks he'd installed last night and let the man in.

"Got mail and the paper, sir." Dawlish said, and then, more quietly, "We intercepted another threatening letter. It's been tested for poison and such, if you'd like to see it?" Dawlish held up a plastic bag with a single white paper inside it. Harry reached for it as Ginny came forward to claim her mail.

"Is that…?" She looked suddenly very angry. "I thought someone was going through my mail so I didn't have to see another one of those." She glared accusingly at the letter.

"It's only for Agent Potter, ma'am. It's good evidence, and he's one of the best criminal profilers we've got." Dawlish hurried to explain to Ginny, who ripped her mail out of his hands and stalked back to the kitchen. "There were no prints found, and the paper is all-purpose. It can be bought by anyone at any office supply store in all of Europe. We're still working on the ink samples." He said quietly to Harry, who nodded, dismissing Dawlish back to the hall before re-locking the door.

Ginny, dear:

I saw that you've finally started taking me seriously,

It's about time.

But you should know that no One,

Not even a War Hero,

Is going to save you.

I'll kill Him first, so He doesn't have to watch you die…

Love, Me.

Harry blinked. This was along the same vein as the other letters she'd been getting. The type was black, non-descript. Any printer and computer in the country could have rolled this out. Harry read over it a few more times, committing it to memory before folding his arms to look back at the kitchen.

Ginny was staring quietly off into space, her fingers absently flipping through the pages of Soccer Monthly. Her eyes focused on him, suddenly.

"What does it say?" She asked, more quietly than she'd ever spoken to him. He stared straight ahead. He was here so that she didn't have to worry about these things. If he could help it, she'd never have to read one of these sick notes ever again. Ginny sighed.

"Well, you're the best bodyguard, best criminal profiler, best serial killer catcher," Harry winced as she said this, hoping she wasn't going to talk about his most famous case. She didn't. "Is there anything you're not good at?" She asked, but she wasn't looking at him anymore.

He suddenly had a rush of strong feeling for her. She cradled her coffee cup in her hands and looked lost. She was suddenly pale and tired. He almost wished that there was some way to make her feel better…

He softly cleared his throat. When her eyes found his, he paused for a moment before lifting his hand to brush a finger over his nose. It took a moment before she caught on. Her wide grin made his break in professionalism more than worth it.

"No?" She asked, laughing, "There's not anything you're not good at?" Harry tugged at his ear. Yes, that sounded right. As far as she was concerned he was good at everything, he was bloody Superman. She grinned at him again, and he was happy to see a little color come back to her cheeks. She paused.

"You're…you're going to keep me safe, right? Until they catch this…lunatic?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. He tugged his ear with as much force and conviction as he could. She looked endearingly relieved as she gathered her things for work.

_Just a job, Potter_. He reminded himself, trying not to look at her bum as she bent down to retrieve her briefcase. _Just a job, don't get attached._ He warned himself.

But, as he followed her out the door, he had to admit to himself that it might be a bit late for that.


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4!_

Harry gripped the steering wheel tightly and felt a minute amount of tension leave his body. It felt good to be in his own car again. The sleek, black mustang was the only extravagance he'd really allowed himself since he'd joined the force four years ago. He might have the bank account of a fifty year old millionaire, but he had the body and heart of a twenty-three year old, and he loved to hear his baby purr.

"Nice ride." Ginny had drawled when he'd let her in the passenger side. He'd been more offended than he'd care to admit. Not that he wanted to brag, but he'd gotten girls to come back to his apartment with this car alone. The supple leather seats were a dream, and the way it handled… Harry smiled and took a right onto the freeway. This car was his baby, alright. And the girls came and went, but his shiny little monster was here to stay.

And it was nice to be with something of his own, today. Everything from his morning run to his afternoon snack had come from and revolved around Ginny Weasley. For the past several years, Harry had gotten used to controlling everything around him. That's what made him a good agent, a good cop. He got control of the crime scene, the details of a case, the criminals. But now, well, he was remembering the reasons he didn't like personal surveillance work.

Now, his sanity depended on getting Ginny in and out of her parents' house as quickly as possible.

"All of my brothers and their wives and girlfriends are going to be there. And then of course there's all the extended family, Dad's work friends…Though they may not be there, Mom said it was just a family affair. But even that's huge! Not that my mother minds in the slightest. She likes to cook, see…" Ginny had told him, laughing at her own joke.

_Yeah,_ Harry thought, turning off an exit ramp, _Her mom liked to cook quite a bit. In fact had made a career out of it._ During his walk-through of Ginny's apartment last night, he'd seen that she'd had every single cook book her mother had ever written, as well as the DVD series of the past twelve seasons of Molly Weasley's shows.

She was called the modern-day Julia Child and was a very public figure. It was no secret that the Weasley family was loaded with cash up to their ears because of her. No wonder she liked to cook. She'd have to, living the life that she did.

Harry continued down a road that became more and more isolated from civilization. He shook his head quietly as Ginny babbled about various landmarks they passed, her favorite childhood park, her first school. Harry barely paid attention, instead concentrating on the road.

No one knew that much about the Weasleys' personal lives. Ginny was the only one of them who'd become really notable like her mother. Her oldest brother, Bill, had gotten some notoriety for hacking into a bank's database, then getting hired by that same bank to keep others from breaking in as he had.

Other than that, the Weaselys were a mystery. They lived out in the middle of nowhere, as Harry was seeing now, and were said to be very close. There was some talk of them being "batty" or having started a popular blood cult, but Harry was sure that those were just media rumors. Ginny was normal enough…kind of.

As a point of pride, she'd taken it upon herself to be as loquacious as possible. She talked at him almost non-stop for hours today at work. She'd talked about her new editor, how she'd been disappointed she hadn't gotten a promotion, that she'd recently grown to love apples, where she hated them as a child.

Harry had been exhausted for her, by the end of the day, but she hadn't seemed bothered. He'd abandoned her ridiculous signs halfway through the day, and had stuck with nodding or shaking his head. Not that she asked him many questions. Her constant barrage of dialogue had been a bit of a blessing, actually, and gave him something to focus on while he stood there behind her desk, watching the door to her small office.

"We're here!" Ginny grinned beside him, wriggling in her seat. He looked up and, indeed, pulled the car to a stop in front of a set of huge wrought iron gates. The words "The Burrow" were set into the metal. Ginny startled him by pushing the button to roll his window down, then practically leaped over the center console to lean out the window towards a keypad beside the driveway.

Harry was pressed back into his seat by her wriggling body. The scent of her flowery perfume, which had been teasing him all day, suddenly enveloped his personal space. He had to stop himself from breathing the heady, seductive scent deeply into his nose.

"Rube! Rubeus it's me, Gi-" Ginny was cut off when Harry grasped her firmly around the waist and deposited her back in her own seat. She exclaimed in outrage, but he ignored her.

"Special Agent Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley requesting entrance." He barked out the window, not pleased that his body had reacted so quickly and completely to having Ginny so close to him. He'd have to just get used to having her close. It was just part of the job. Only the job.

"Agent Potter, is it?" A booming, jovial voice came back over the speaker. "And Little Gin-Gin! Welcome home, my girl." The voice said indulgently. The gates in front of them swung open and Harry eased the car forward along the well-lit drive. Ginny crossed her arms.

"So you'll talk to my security guard but not to me?" She asked, sullenly. Harry could have told her that the security guard wasn't constantly questioning his competence, and that it had been necessary to identify themselves. Instead, he remained stoic beside her. After a surprisingly short drive, they found themselves at the main house.

Harry had to assume that it was the main house, because the driveway stopped and Ginny had already rocketed out of the car. Harry shut off the engine and stepped out hurriedly, keeping an eye out for her. She'd gone bouncing up to the guard station.

Harry took a moment to stare at the building in front of him. He'd expected a huge mansion, a grand dwelling for a family so large and with so much money. He hadn't expected this squat, cozy bungalow. The lawn and front entance was immaculately lit and well kept, but that and the guard house was the only indication of the immense wealth of the people that dwelled inside it.

Harry blinked up at it for a second longer, then turned back to Ginny, only to blink again. She was talking to the biggest man that Harry had ever seen. He was massively broad and muscular, and had to top out at least at six foot eight. If he'd believed in such things, Harry would swear the man was part giant.

But the guard (Rubeus?) was shockingly gentle as he picked Ginny up and swung her into his arms with clear affection. Ginny squeezed him back as hard as she could with her arms only going half-way around his shoulders. Harry had to smile at this mis-matched pair. The love between them was palpable.

He erased his smile quickly, however, when Rubeus set Ginny back down and gave her a swift pat on her head.

"Run 'long to yer mother." The giant said, "She'll be happier to see yeh than I am. And that's hard to do." Ginny smiled widely and had to jump to plant a kiss on his cheek.

"See you later, Rube! I'll bring you some cake before I leave." She called over her shoulder. She nodded at Harry, motioning for him to follow her.

"That was Rube." She called over her shoulder, where he was walking the customary two feet behind her. The distance didn't deter her talking in the least. "He's been the family's guard for…as long as I remember. Before I was born, even. He was the third person to hold me in the hospital, just behind my mom and dad. I'm his favorite." She scrunched her nose at him sarcastically. "But he says that to all of us."

They walked up the wide stairs to the front door, and Ginny swung the door open just as Harry shouldered past her to scope out the space in front of them.

"You really think there's going to be someone waiting to attack me at my parents' house? With Rube outside and my whole family inside?" She scoffed at him and pushed past, headed towards the back of the house, towards multiple male voices. Harry had to admit that it didn't seem likely, but old habits die hard, and he was only doing what his training had pounded into him.

As they walked down a long, dimly lit hall, the voices, now mixed with a few female ones, grew louder and louder until it sounded like the whole house had erupted in a shout. Ginny hurried forward, and they stepped suddenly into a very open, bright room.

The vaulted ceilings and floor to ceiling glass rear wall bounced the sound of the cheers back to them.

"Who's playing?" Ginny called over the roar, which suddenly shifted to be mostly her name.

"Ginny!" Arthur Weasley was the first to stand and greet his daughter. The whole family, plus a few wives and girlfriends were draped over various chairs and couches, some sprawled on the floor, others in tall stools behind the couch. Their eyes, which had previously been glued to the TV, all swung first to Ginny, then to Harry, before the whole mass of them seemed to simultaneously pop up into standing positions and rush at her.

It took all of Harry's will power to step away from her, not closer. If we were talking about training, a number one rule was that when a huge group of people rushes at your charge, you don't step back and watch it happen. That is, unless the huge group is family. He watched in a sort of incredulous amazement as Ginny received hug after hug, kiss after pat on the cheek from her family…and then they moved onto him.

He was shocked when the tallest on, Ron, Harry knew from his files, stepped forward and offered Harry his hand.

"Ron Weasley. Pleasure to meet you, Agent Potter." Harry stared down at the calloused fingers in front of him before slowly lifting his own to meet Ron's handshake.

"H-Harry. Please. Call me Harry." He regained his composure fairly quickly, which was good, because the handshaking ritual continued with five other brothers and three young women. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as the most famous cook of their time walked quickly from the open kitchen on the other end of the room towards Ginny.

"Oh, Ginny, dear!" Molly Weasley burst as she flung her arms around her daughter. Harry met Mr. Weasley's eyes and shook the man's hand, but kept an eye on Ginny, who seemed suddenly in danger of becoming smothered in her mother's arms.

"I'm fine, mom." Ginny's voice was rather muffled as she tried to reassure her mother. "Really, I'm good. Look, I've got a guard and everything!" Ginny flapped a helpless hand in his direction as her mother finally let go to turn to Harry.

The rest of the family watched in amusement as their matriarch let out a cry and flung her arms around Harry, as well.

"Yes, Harry Potter! Thank you so much. Kingsley mentioned that this was a bit of a favor, and we cannot thank you enough, dear!" The boys erupted into laughter, and even Arthur cracked a smile watching his wife.

Harry patter her back awkwardly. "I'm just doing my job, ma'am." He muttered, not sure how to react to this round, energetic woman who'd pulled him into her strong embrace. She sighed shakily, and when she pulled back to grip his shoulders, he was alarmed to see that her vibrant brown eyes were shiny with tears.

"None of that, dear. This is not just a job, it's my daughter. And none of this "ma'am" business, my name is Molly. You'll do well to use it." She sighed and took a long look at him. "You're too skinny." She declared before releasing him and moving to fuss over Ginny some more.

Harry blinked, dazed at the rest of the family.

"Mum, you can't call Harry Potter 'too skinny'!" Ron said from the couch, his eyes back on the TV screen.

"Ronald, it's true. He's too skinny!" She paused from wiping a smidge off Ginny's cheek to look back up at Harry. "You're too skinny." She told him again, and bustled back into the kitchen when Ginny finally waved her off. "I hope you're hungry!" She called merrily over her shoulder, all traces of tears gone.

"Not just a job, I'm their daughter." Ginny muttered as she walked past, elbowing him in the stomach. She plopped down on the couch, half on top one of her brothers. Fred? George? Even Harry's trained eye couldn't tell the difference between the twins. He stood there awkwardly in the entrance, scoping out where to stand before Ron waved him over, motioning to a stool behind the couch.

"You'll want a place where you can see the whole room." He said, nodding as Harry came over to perch on the stool. Ron was right, this was the ideal seat for him. He could see all the doors, windows, and he had a direct line to Ginny. Harry eyed the calluses on Ron's hands.

"Are you on the force?" he asked the taller man. Ron snorted and emptied his beer.

"Used to be. Went through training and all, but my wife didn't like the hours, all the danger…" He trailed off, inclining his head to a pretty brunette Harry hadn't met in the initial lineup. "Hermione Granger-Weasley." He said a bit loudly, catching her attention. She smiled sweetly at him and made her way around several lounging Weasleys to stop in front of them. She offered Harry her hand as Ron stole her beer.

"Hermione Granger-possibly- soon-to-be-hyphen-Weasley." She said, grinning at him. "We haven't decided yet." She told him.

"You haven't decided yet. I'm all decided."He handed back her beer and laid a smacking kiss on her cheek. "She'll cave, one day." He winked at Harry, who couldn't help but smile at the pair.

"Hermione Granger…" Harry's eyes flicked to Ron, "Possibly-hyphen-Weasley?" He asked as Ron laughed at his joke. "You're the lawyer on the trial for…" He trailed off, noticing that sever pairs of eyes swiveled to him at the word 'trial'. Hermione took over for him, smoothly.

"Tom Riddle, yes." She glared at Charlie, who was outright staring at them before he turned forward again. "I'm working to see if I can get him up to a triple life sentence. If anyone deserves it, it's that sick excuse for a man." She spat violently before sipping her beer and passing it back to Ron.

Harry couldn't agree more, and was glad that the lawyers on the case were so keen on keeping Riddle in jail for as long as possible.

"Hermione, dear, please no more talk of that horrible business." Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen. "Besides, dinner's ready!"

The effect of these three words was immediate. The whole red-headed lot of them seemed to jump out of their seats and run, stampede really, to the absurdly long dining room table which separated the living room from the kitchen. Harry followed quickly, sticking as close to Ginny as he could, making sure she wasn't run over.

He needn't have worried, but as soon as they were seated at the table, (Molly had insisted that he sit with them, next to Ginny, instead of standing behind her chair) Ginny leaned over and hissed at him.

"So you're not allowed to talk to me but you can get as chummy with my family as you want?" She glared at him as he mockingly tugged his ear. She whipped her head away from him and ignored him for the rest of the meal. Fortunately, Ron and Hermione Granger-possibly-hyphen-Weasely sat on his other side, and kept him entertained with a running commentary on the rest of the family.

Ron was overjoyed when he learned that Harry's favorite soccer team was the New York Red Bulls. Hermione merely rolled her eyes, and turned to talk to Audrey, Percy Weasley's wife. Harry found himself pushed and pulled into one conversation or another. It seemed that he couldn't play the "macho" bodyguard card, as Ginny would call it, and just keep silent. No one would allow it, here, and by the time they left, he'd exchanged numbers with everyone, and felt like he'd known Ron and Hermione all his life.

Firing up the car and waiting for Ginny to give Rube his cake, Harry sighed with contentment. He hadn't felt this happy in a long time. _Possibly ever_, a cynical part of him chimed in, and he couldn't help but agree.

Ginny slid into the car and collapsed into her seat with a sigh.

"It's always so exhausting, coming here." She said as they slid down the driveway. "I mean, I love them and all, but there's so much attention! They're making up for when I was away with the Flash doing the soccer thing. But still, there's only so much care and concern one person could take." She slumped back in her chair, a small smile playing across her lips, negating her complaints. She sat up suddenly.

"Also, I've decided not to be mad at you." She turned to face him. He raised an eyebrow. "Yes. First off, because I'm going to smother you with all my polite kindness. Second, because with my family, it's impossible not to fall in love with them. Thirdly, because I'm beginning to wear you down, aren't I?" She looked at him expectantly, but he shook his head 'no'.

She scoffed. "I know I am! When you passed me the beans tonight, I said thank you, and I heard a distinctive grunt out of you!" She argued. He had to keep from smiling.

She kept up her one-sided argument all the way home, and he reflected on her family. He wondered if she knew how lucky she was, having people like them behind her. It was something he'd never experienced, and he felt that he'd miss it, when this assignment was done.


	5. Chapter 5

_Here we go. This is my favorite chapter so far. You guys will see what I mean._

_Please keep up the reading! The reviewing, too, if it's not too much to ask. I've got a lot of time on my hands, so I should be powering through this story pretty quickly. 4 chapters in 2 days isn't half bad, is it? _

_Enjoy._

Harry had been sleeping in Ginny's guest room for five days when he was jolted awake by a scream from Ginny's room. His feet hit the ground, and he was pounding down the hall before he even realized he was vertical. He almost tore her bedroom door off in his haste to get inside.

Ginny was standing, hands over her mouth, staring at the window. Hanging on the other side of the glass was a life-sized rag doll, complete with soccer jersey and red yarn hair, with a noose around its neck.

"Finnegan!" Harry bellowed, knowing the man was on duty tonight and would come running at his call. "Ginny," he said in a softer, soothing voice. He walked quickly towards her, arms outstretched. "Ginny, get away from the window." Ginny didn't respond to him. When he got close enough, he saw that her eyes were filled with tears that were spilling down her cheeks.

"Ginny," he said, more harshly. "Ginny, get away from the window. We have to get you into the living room. There's zero visibility from the ground, there. Do you understand me?" He felt like he was talking to the rag doll, for all the response Ginny was giving him. He wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged. She tripped over her feet, but let her lead him out of the bedroom.

Finnegan came bursting into the room as they made their way to the couch.

"Call base, get forensics down here. I want a whole team to case the area, whoever did this still has to be around. Tell them to bring a crane, a ladder, anything to cut the damn thing out of the window before she sees it again. Call the Commander, tell him there's been a breach and that he needs to call Arthur Weasley, but that Ginny's fine. You're also going to want a pretty big evidence bag."

"Yes, Sir." The recruit didn't ask questions and was already on his cell phone, dialing base. Harry made a mental note to throw a bonus his way as soon as he could. For now, though, he had bigger things to worry about.

He lead Ginny to the sofa and eased her down on it, her breath was hiccupping out in harsh sobs, and the tears began to fall. Her hands had moved and were now covering her eyes. Her head was shaking back and forth.

"I…I… heard…I heard…" Harry rubbed a soothing hand down her arm.

"Don't try to talk, ok? Just breathe for me, Ginny. That's all you have to do." He tried to calm her, but she shook her head violently at him.

"No…n-no. I heard so-something on my w-w-window." She said shakily. "It s-sounded like a…a rock or s-someth-thing. Like someone w-was…was th-throwing rocks a-at my w-window-ow." She shuddered out, and Harry suddenly understood. He hated to leave her like this, but he ran into his room and slammed his feet into his running shoes as fast as he could. He ran back down the hall, passing Finnegan on the way to the door.

"Don't you dare leave her alone. Not for anything until I get back!" He yelled back at the recruit, already jumping down three stairs at a time, cutting corners where he could. When Finnegan yelled back, Harry was already too far away to hear.

He jammed the door open ahead of him, and took off running to the spot under Ginny's window. He could see the gruesome doll hanging there from the ground. He searched frantically around his feet for pebbles or stones or…Got it! He toed a small pile of gravel laying next to a street sign. He looked up and whipped his head around, looking for…

"Hey!" He yelled, running up to a bagel vendor on the corner. The vendor gave him an odd look, but Harry didn't care. He didn't give a damn what this man thought of him. "Did you see a man? Or a person? Throwing rocks up at that window?" He asked, already hearing sirens approaching. Backup, excellent. The vendor widened his eyes.

"Yeah, actually, I did! Couldn't see their face, wearing a black jacket and hood." He looked expectantly at Harry, who made impatient gestures at him. "And…and jeans. He was wearing dark blue jeans. Couldn't see his shoes…" Harry nodded and ran down the street where a squad car pulled up.

"Vendor says he saw someone throwing rocks at the window. Black jacket and hood, dark jeans. He didn't see their face. I'm going to case the park and around the block, maybe they're sticking around." The officer, who Harry didn't know, nodded and looked astounded. Harry took off towards the park and a dead run.

He didn't blame the officer. Whoever he was, Harry was sure that he wasn't used to having famous Agents run up to them wearing practically nothing at five a.m.

oOo

Ginny had calmed down considerably by the time most of the police had left her apartment. Seamus Finnegan was a Godsend, and hadn't left her side since Harry had sprinted out the door. Which had been…She glanced at the clock…over three hours ago.

She'd be worried if she hadn't just seen Kingsley Shacklebolt, who'd told her that he'd seen Harry mapping out the area and debriefing a small team down on the street. Shacklebolt paused on his way out the door.

"Did you happen to see what he was wearing when he went tearing down there?" He asked them. Finnegan nearly choked on his coffee.

"Nothing but his boxers and a pair of trainers." He responded. Ginny honestly couldn't remember what he'd been wearing, but cracked a smile along with them and watched Shacklebolt duck out her door.

No, she hadn't remembered his attire, but she'd remembered his strong, steady voice. He'd said her name. He'd said her name _a lot_. And even in her shell-shocked state, that had gotten through. The rough gravel of his voice had penetrated when she'd been trying to block everything out.

She still felt goose-bumps raise when she remembered his touch on her arm. He'd been warm, and his hand on her waist had been strong and in charge. Just what she'd needed.

"Good coffee." Finnegan said, toasting her. She smiled back at him and looked down at her barely-touched cup. It had been the young recruit's words of comfort that had woken her from her stupor. His talk about being strong, but grieving as well. For the past three hours, he'd kept up encouraging, endearing words to her no matter who'd been in the room with them. Finally, it had been his talk of his girlfriend that had gotten down to her core.

He was a good guy, and he was clearly head-over-heels infatuated with his Lavender. She'd needed reminding that there were still good guys out there. She'd needed something real, anchored to true life, and not all of this stalker craziness, to wake her up.

She started to say, "Harry's is better.", but the sentence never left her mouth, because now she was looking at his big, comforting form walking through her front door. Finnegan slid off his stool to stand at attention. Harry held up a finger and crossed to her bedroom where he disappeared. He came out a moment later to move down the rest of the hall and check in every one of the rooms. When he came out of the guest room last, he'd donned a pair of sweat pants and tee-shirt, and had lost his sneakers.

"You can go back outside." He said, nodding to Finnegan, who paused, then turned to Ginny and enveloped her in a quick, but firm, hug.

"I'll just be outside, ok?" He asked, jogging to her front door and nodding at her encouragingly, shooting her a thumbs up before shutting the door quietly behind him.

Her eyes were still on Harry, who was standing fairly still, and didn't seem to know what to do. Their eyes locked for a long moment, and before she knew what he was doing, she'd launched herself off of her stool and into his arms.

She didn't allow herself to cry again, but she did allow herself to be comforted about how he immediately took her into his embrace and gripped her hard. She buried her face in his shoulder and shuddered.

She hadn't realized how much she'd gotten used to his dark, menacing form in her life until he'd been out of it, if only for three hours. During her interviews with the police, she'd noticed her eyes straying to his usual spot, and had known a jolt of anxiety every time she'd seen he wasn't there.

She felt him take a deep breath under her cheek, and tried to guess at whether he was as shaken up as she was. Her first guess would have been no, because he was Harry Potter, but then again, he _was_ holding her rather tightly. And Ginny could swear she felt just the smallest tremor running through his arms.

They stood like that for a long time, wrapped up together, before Ginny slowly came to. He seemed to wake up at the same moment, realizing that they were clutching each other tightly in the middle of her kitchen. She sighed, feeling him tense up beneath her, knowing that he was about to break contact. Which was a pity. He was so solid, and warm, and despite everything that had happened this morning, Ginny had felt a slow simmering begin in her lower stomach at the close proximity to him.

She sighed, deciding to take a stab at humor before he pulled away first and things got awkward.

"My coffee sucks." She murmured into his arm. There was a short pause before he chuckled and loosened his arms, letting her pull free. Was it just her imagination, or were those his fingers brushing softly over her hair as she backed up?

He raised his eyebrows at her and opened her freezer, pulling a plain glass jar out of the side. It was filled with coffee grounds. He turned to the counter to fiddle with the coffee pot as she hoisted herself up to the island's stool she'd vacated a few minutes ago.

"You use a different kind of coffee than I do?" She asked, holding her breath. There was a pause, then he tilted his head to the side before shaking his head. She sighed.

"So you're not talking to me again." She said it as a statement, not a question. She propped her chin in her hand, feeling rejected. To her surprise, he sighed and turned around.

"It's not you, it…it's a surveillance technique." He said, staring right at her. Her eyes widened.

"Oh, my God, you totally just said a full sentence!" She sat up straight, fascinated as the corners of his mouth tilted up. "And, you want to smile right now! You think I'm funny!" She watched as the little tilt turned into a full-blown grin.

"I think you're a head case, is what I think." He shook his head and turned to flip the coffee pot on. He leaned forward and braced his arms on the island, facing her as the pot started to gurgle and hiss. He sighed, his smile suddenly gone.

"It's a surveillance, excuse me, a_ personal_ surveillance technique." He repeated.

"Personal Surveillance?"

"Bodyguard." He said, his mouth twitching some more. She put her chin back into her palm, hypnotized by this simple conversation. It seemed so novel, the fact that he answered her questions. He hadn't spoken a single word to her in almost a full week. Until this morning. He'd had to talk to her this morning. And now…now he was still going.

"It's just that for long-term cases, the Agent tends to get more emotionally invested with their charges than they should. The bureau likes to keep distance between its agents and its clients. They encourage us to try and stay as objective as possible, in case…some decisions were to be made."

"What decisions?" She asked. He looked at her squarely, considering.

"Decisions like, if I were to be pulled off your case and replaced. Or if something were to happen to you. Or if there was a situation where I had to choose between myself and you. Or you and the bureau. It just…gets messy." He shook his head. "But, you don't have to worry about those kinds of things, because that would never happen."

"Because you wouldn't let them."

"Exactly."

"Because you're the best."

Harry smiled at her. "That's up for interpretation." He said. Their eyes were still locked, still playing their own little staring game, like always. Ginny sighed.

"So, really it's for my own good, you not talking to me." She said.

"Well that, and, it really, _really_ pisses you off." He smirked at her. She gasped at him.

"I knew it!" She swatted at him, but he ducked out of her reach. Their laughter died down, and he continued his unerring gaze.

"But, it really is mostly for your safety." He said.

"And your safety." She said. He hesitated, but nodded reluctantly. The coffee pot gave a mechanical groan behind him, signaling that the pot was done.

Harry didn't turn away from her until Ginny had nodded her head firmly, signaling that she was ok with his silence. He tipped his head to her and grabbed her mug, replacing the cold brew with his new, hot stuff.

She cradled it in her hands and sniffed it before taking a sip while he filled up his own mug. She moaned.

"How is yours so much better than mine?" she asked as he turned back to face her. "Are you going to tell me your secret?"

His mouth tilted up into a barely-there smile and he brushed his finger down his nose.

_No._


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of the day, being a Sunday, passed by slowly. Ginny didn't hear another word from Harry, but he stuck a little closer to her than usual. If she was in the kitchen, he would lean against the fridge, instead of the couch. If she walked back to the weight room, he'd follow her, instead of just track her progress with his eyes.

Those gorgeous, green eyes. She'd stared at them quite a bit the past five days, but she apparently hadn't been looking close enough. She'd gaped at him when he'd come out of the shower this morning.

"You're wearing glasses!" She'd said in amazement. He'd stopped, picked the glasses off his head, examined them, and looked at them in fake astonishment, as if he'd just realized they were there.

"There's no need to get smart." She griped at him, snagging the last of the coffee for herself. He settled himself against her refrigerator. "I'm just surprised. I've never seen you wear them." He looked back at her steadily behind the round frames.

"And…that's because you wear contacts." She'd said. He nodded. "Hmm." She'd contemplated him, but didn't get a chance to question him further. Her cell phone rang suddenly, and she was too busy assuring her mother of her safety to focus on anything else.

oOo

Harry watched Ginny and Hermione on the couch. She'd gotten here a few minutes ago, and Harry could see that Ginny was happy to have a friend with her. He let out a long, silent breath and settled into his surveillance position next to the door. It had been a long day for both of them, and he was glad to have Ginny's attention away from him for a while. It gave Harry a chance to re-group.

He listened to their conversation absently. He could still feel Ginny against him. His nose was still filled with a faint, vanilla scent that was different from her usual, flowery smell.

At first, when she'd jumped into his arms, he'd been relieved. He'd needed as much reassurance as she had. He shook his head softly. This was why he did _not_ do personal surveillance. He was already attached to her, and after only a couple of days. It was ridiculous. He wasn't soft. He was supposed to have complete control over his emotions.

But if he had so much control, why couldn't he stop feeling the silk of her hair on his fingertips? His hand clenched at his side and he commanded himself to get a grip. He could get a hold on himself for a couple more weeks.

Even as he said it in his head, he knew that there was a very large chance that he wouldn't make it that long. From day one, this infuriating, gorgeous girl had had him twisted up in knots. _Maybe you should ask to be taken off her case_. A rational part of him whispered. But even as he thought it, he knew that he couldn't do it.

_And that's because you've taken it as a personal challenge to catch the guy sending the threats._ A non-rational part lied to him. _It's got nothing to do with the subject. At all._

And that's exactly what he would tell his supervisor, if it came down to it. The guy had infiltrated Harry's security net by getting up to Ginny's balcony and hanging the doll. It was a direct assault to his skills as an agent. Yep. That was it. No personal entrapments at all… He caught himself gazing at Ginny; she was staring back at him.

"Well?" She asked, and he kept his face bland, blinking at her. She rolled her eyes. "See?" She motioned angrily at him. "He doesn't talk to me _at all!_" She said to Hermione, who was watching him as well.

"Well, yes. That's actually a fairly widely practiced guarding technique. Ron got trained in it. He said it was pretty hard. If Harry's gone all this time without talking to you, that's really a testament to his expertise."

Harry smiled smugly at her, tilting his head in a salute. Ginny scoffed.

"He won't even smile at me! How come she gets a smile and I get nothing?" she demanded.

Hermione patted her hand. "Well, I'm not his charge, Gin. I'm sure it has nothing to do with you. I think it's very professional of him. And," she glared at Ginny, "I don't think you should bait him like you do." She said sternly. "He's clearly trying to do his work, and you might be distracting him. As a personal surveillance expert, his job is to blend as seamlessly into the background while providing the most efficient forms of protection. The charge is, ideally, not even supposed to know that they're there at all."

Harry blinked at that. How the woman in front of him had memorized, word for word, the guarding passage from the officer's manual, he had no idea. But here she was, quoting what was the equivalent to Harry's bible. There was no higher word, in his eyes. His respect for Hermione went up immensely.

Within the hour, Ginny's apartment was bursting with people. Ron had shown up shortly after Hermione. He'd clapped Harry on the back, and been indifferent when Ginny had complained to him about her silent guard. Next, Arthur came in, followed closely by his sniffling wife. After that, Bill and his wife, Fleur had stopped in to show their support, and then Fred and George had joined the group, bringing three very large bottles of Firewhiskey, which were quickly shut in the liquor cabinet, before Molly could catch sight of them.

Charlie was the only brother missing, but he called after the whole crew had been there for a little over an hour. They put him on speaker phone and crowded around the coffee table so that they could all talk to him.

And this, Harry saw, was what Ginny had truly needed. Her apartment was barely big enough to fit all of them, but her family made her feel better than she had all day. And he had to be thankful for that, even if it was a logistical nightmare.

Despite the fact that he didn't have her clearly in his line of sight, couldn't keep everyone away from the windows, and had to tell Reginald, the guard on duty, not to let anyone else in, he was glad for their presence.

And, like last time, they refused to let him just sit there. Harry found himself drawn into conversation with Ron. He had grown to like the other man, even in such a short time. He was close to Harry's age and they had a lot in common.

Between the bright conversations around them, and Harry watching Ginny grow more and more relaxed and happy, he didn't realize how fast time was going by. When the Weasleys began to trickle out the door, Harry was shocked to see that it was close to ten p.m.

"I'll come by for the Bulls game, yeah?" Ron asked, shaking Harry's hand as he and Hermione walked out the door. Harry nodded, looking forward to seeing the couple again. The three of them just seemed to get along splendidly, and Harry had forgotten what it was like to have friends outside the force.

After he'd closed and locked the door behind the last of the lingering Weasleys, it was almost eleven. He heard Ginny sigh behind him, and he turned, resuming his watch, his arms crossed. Ginny was sitting in the middle of her couch, staring listlessly at the door. She looked very small without the large masses of red hair that had just been surrounding her.

"It's late." She said, not looking at him. "Are you hungry? Or tea. I could make some tea to…" She trailed off, still not looking at him. She continued to stare past him, at the doorknob for long moments. Her eyes were getting bigger and bigger in her face, her freckles beginning to stand out more. Harry was beginning to wonder if he should get her attention to break her out of her trance when she spoke quietly.

"I know that this is a bad situation. I know that. But having my family remind me of that over and over… It doesn't help." Her eyes flickered to his. "And I know they're wonderful. They're the best family in the world, but I can't be strong for all of them. That's a lot of expectation to live up to. I'm supposed to be their tough little Gin-Gin, but I'm really scared. That's why I didn't want you, at first. Because if I took you on, it would make everything so real.

"I could kid myself all day that the letters weren't really serious, and that they'd go away but…" She took a steadying breath. "What they did today, that was personal. It's not a joke and it's not going to go away. If anything, it's going to get worse and…And I'm really glad you're here." She angrily swiped a few fallen tears from her cheeks. "Even if you're an infuriating git, and I don't know a single thing about you except that you sleep in your boxers and wear contacts." Ginny sniffed quietly.

"And you know everything about me, don't you. Because I talk constantly. But, I find that comforting, the talking. Because I know that you're listening and it reminds me that you're there. And I know Hermione said that I wasn't supposed to notice you and that I shouldn't talk to you, but I'm really afraid right now, and I_ need_ to notice you…"

Harry was frozen in place by her words. She allowed a single sob to escape her mouth before she closed her eyes to take some deep breaths. He had to admire her. The emotional trauma of such a personal attack would scare anyone to tears, but she was controlling her fear. Letting it go in the only outlet she had, at the moment: talking to him.

She breathed through her nose and out through her mouth a couple of times. It was a technique that Harry used himself, on occasion. He'd used it this morning, after he'd seen she was safe. He hesitated, remembering how she'd been better with her parents sitting close to her. He made a decision and walked quietly towards her, perching on the edge of the arm chair, leaning forward on his knees. His head was inches away from hers. Ginny's fingers were clasped in front of her, elbows resting on her knees. Harry mimicked her position so that their hands were almost touching.

Her eyes opened after a last breath, and she didn't look surprised to see him next to her.

"I don't want to sleep in my bedroom tonight." She said. He nodded slowly. It seemed that the thought of being alone tonight spooked her. He couldn't blame her. He'd been planning on sleeping outside her door tonight, anyways. If the door was to the guest bedroom and it happened to be open, it wouldn't matter. He didn't want walls between them again, tonight. He'd pull up a chair and watch her sleep, if he had to.

Ginny bit her lip. "So…I need a shower. Can I…can I keep the doors open?" she asked, hesitatingly. He nodded, emphatically. He'd seen the horror movies, too. Girl in shower didn't make for the safest scenario. She smiled at him, shakily.

"No peeking, ok?" She asked. He held up three fingers. _Scout's honor._ She swallowed thickly before standing. "Boy scout, huh? Good to know." She said absently, making her way to her bedroom, then turning on the lights in the bathroom. Harry heard the shower turn on, and sat back in his chair, trying with Herculean effort to keep his "no peeking" promise.

oOo

When Ginny woke the next morning, she was disoriented until she remembered that Harry had silently insisted that she take his bed, and not the couch. She was in her guest bedroom. Her eyes flicked around. She didn't come in here, often, but it was nice enough, she supposed. Her gaze landed on a small bottle of sleeping pills and a half-empty cup of cold tea.

Harry had insisted on these last night, as well. She'd watched as he'd carefully crushed up half a pill, then stirred it gently into her chamomile tea, which he'd brewed while she'd been in the shower. Ginny had been touched by his thoughtfulness, even wordless thoughtfulness, and this comfort had lulled her to sleep more than the drugs did.

She sat up slowly, and her eyes found Harry's. She started. He was sitting outside the open door in the hallway, in a chair directly in front of her door. His legs were stretched out in front of him, his arms were (as usual) crossed over his chest, and his feet were bare. He looked back at her steadily.

"Did you sleep there last night?" She asked, breathlessly. She had no idea how long he'd been sitting there, but the thought that he'd watched her sleep not only eased her mind, but set her heart pounding. He shook his head at her.

"So you slept on the couch?" she asked, swinging her legs out of bed and walking slowly towards him. He stood and drew the chair out of her way as she made her way to her own room. He didn't bother answering her, and she didn't bother looking for an answer. They both knew that he hadn't slept, or moved from the chair, for an instant last night.

Ginny paused before her closed bedroom door. Harry brushed past her and opened the door, walking to the window and flicking the curtains aside to get a look before pulling them back all the way. He nodded at her and passed her again to lean against the door frame, facing out from the room.

Ginny shivered when she felt his arm brush against hers, and silently thanked the Heavens that he seemed to be able to read her thoughts. She changed hurriedly into her work-out gear, and they headed to the weight room. She paused when climbing on the treadmill.

"Do you want this?" She asked, indicating the machine she was standing on. Harry made a show of leaning against the opposite wall. He wasn't working out, today. He was just there to watch. Ginny pressed the power button and started walking as her warm-up.

"Well, I still feel bad." She said. "I'm sure that your workout contains at least three miles every day, and you haven't really gotten that since you've been here. Maybe we should get another one. I mean," she added quickly, "If you think you might be around for a while. I would hate for you to get out of shape…" She trailed off when she felt the incline kick in.

Later, when they'd settled in at Ginny's office, Harry's cell rang.

"Potter." He answered, and she looked up at him, like she always did when she heard his voice.

"Yes, sir…Did they run the…Yes. Good…" His eyebrows shot up and his eyes flicked to hers. "That's…no sir, it's not." He crossed suddenly to her door. He kept his back to her and talked so softly that she couldn't hear. A moment later, he hung up, but dialed his phone. He talked quickly to whoever was on the other end of the new call before hanging up and shoving the phone back in his pocket and coming back into the room.

"New developments with my case?" She asked lightly, keeping her eyes on him. He didn't look at her.

When they got back to her apartment, a padded cot with sheets and a pillow had been placed in the hall across from the guest room, replacing his chair from last night. A box of contacts were laid on the kitchen table, along with a bottle of men's shampoo and an mp3 player. When she glanced into the work-out room, she saw that an extra treadmill had been placed next to her existing one.

"So, I guess you're here to stay for a while?" She asked, facing him. He looked at her grimly and handed her a cup of chamomile tea. She sighed.

"That's what I thought." She found that she didn't feel at all upset about his stay and, when their fingers brushed when he passed the mug to her, she felt a few butterflies twitter around in her stomach. They looked at each other silently while she sipped her tea, each not knowing that the other was thinking the exact same thing.

_Great._


	7. Chapter 7

_A bit of a shorter chapter here, but it was either make a short one and get another two chapters out to you guys today, or make it really, really long, and you'd only have one chapter. My apologies._

As the days wore on, Ginny and Harry fell into a comfortable rhythm. They'd wake up, race each other on the treadmills (Harry always won), shower (Ginny always took longer, leaving Harry plenty of time to brew coffee), share breakfast (Harry had finally broken down when she'd offered him her mother's fresh baked scones), then walk to work.

When they returned to the apartment, Ginny would fill her time by reading, cooking, or watching TV. Harry filled his time by watching Ginny read, cook, or watch TV.

Sometimes, Ginny's family came over to see her, sometimes Ron came over just to see Harry (The two men became close over a rough match from the Bulls, and had been solid friends ever since). Apart from these visitors, their time passed in silence, which Ginny attempted to fill whenever she had the chance. Harry kept his nodding to a minimum, throwing in a few precious facial expressions when absolutely necessary.

By week three, the only point of contention between them, besides Harry's silence, was the cot in the hall.

Ginny glared at him over the Wednesday morning paper while she separated the sections. Business for him, sports for her, and they shared the front page.

"It's ridiculous! Why don't you just go back and sleep in my room? Or…or I'll sleep in my room!" She'd said. Harry raised his eyebrows at her and sipped his coffee.

"Ok, fine. I don't want to go back to sleeping there. It's too…it feels like it's been invaded, somehow. Well, at least take the couch, or move the damn cot into the guest room! There's no use for you sleeping out in the hallway like a homeless person!"

Harry could have told her that the hall provided optimal visibility for the whole apartment, including her sleeping form. He also could have added that he looked and smelled nothing like a homeless person, and he had no intentions of becoming one anytime soon. But he refrained, taking another bite of bagel.

"I'm sure that you don't need to have _constant_ visual contact with me. We haven't heard from the crazy stalker in a week!"

Harry frowned at her and lifted his paper back up, hoping she wasn't letting her guard down too much.

"Not that I'm getting complacent, or anything." She rushed, making him smile. "I'll wear you down, soon, though. We have no idea when you'll be leaving, and my mother raised me properly, so I know that when I have a guest in my home, they deserve their own room, or at the very least, their own bed!"

Behind the stock report, Harry winced. He actually did know when he'd be leaving, but didn't exactly know how to bring it up. What was he supposed to do? Wait until she stopped talking about her peanut allergy and then say, "Hey, listen, this Sunday, I'll have been here for a month, and bureau rule states that after a month on a case, the officer in charge has to take a five-day break. So, just look out for someone who's not me to come in Sunday night, ok?"?

Just thinking about it, he felt like a creep. Of course, if he could just get over his stupid pride and open his mouth and say something to her, this would be easier. But no, he was the most noble, disciplined man in the world, and he followed the books to a "t". And the books said that it was deemed acceptable for an agent to begin speaking to his long-term charge after two months, because that was the point when they had enough personal knowledge the client that they were already emotionally involved.

Harry didn't know who had thought up those rules, but he wanted to punch them in the face. And after he did, he wanted to kindly let them know that it had taken him about two days to get to know Ginny enough to become attached, not two months, and that this particular part of the system was complete bullshit.

And that was the problem, wasn't it? He and Ginny seemed to be making up their own rules as they went along. Which was not sanctioned in any of the books.

Harry reached over to where Ginny was wrestling with a jar of strawberry jelly and twisted the top off for her, easily.

"Thank you." She muttered, dipping her knife in the jar.

"You're welcome." Harry murmured back automatically, pre-occupied not paying attention. Beside him Ginny's head snapped up. Harry froze.

"You talked!" Ginny practically yelled, pointing her dripping knife at him. "You totally, completely said 'you're welcome'!" She bounced on the balls of her feet as Harry used all of his control to keep his face from turning red.

Ginny spun around in a circle, flinging jam onto Harry's face and shirt. He blinked at her, wiping off the stickiness. She was rocking side to side, singing, "You said you're welcome!" over and over in various melodies.

He grabbed the knife from her hand, seeing as she was still whipping jelly all over the fridge and countertops.

"All right, all right. That's enough." He grumbled, setting the knife down. Ginny stopped rocking and cupped her face in both her hands.

"He speaks again! This is the best day of my life." She batted her eyelashes at him. Harry didn't laugh, but instead glanced guiltily down at his bagel.

"Listen, we needed to talk anyways." He told her. She sobered up immediately, hearing the gravity of his voice.

"What is it?" She asked, dropping her hands to the island counter. Harry took a deep breath, savoring the feeling of actually being able to speak back to her.

"This…Well, you're not going to like it." He paused, waiting for her reaction. She only nodded slowly. "I have to leave." He told her. She gasped and stepped back before he could follow it up. He stood from his stool and grabbed her wrists, keeping her from backing up further.

"It's only for five days. I'm coming back. And I'm not leaving until Sunday. Night. And I'm going to hand-pick who'll replace me, so you don't have to worry about that." He said hurriedly, watching as she processed his words. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You couldn't have started with that first part? Before scaring the shit out of me?" She growled at him, but she kept her hands in his, not pulling back. Harry allowed himself one or two strokes of his thumbs on the insides of her wrists. Her skin was sinfully soft. He reluctantly gave her hands back to her and sat down again.

The intensity of her reaction scared him. Partially because it wasn't exactly along the guidelines of expected client behavior, and partially because he shared her same fear. It was irrational, he knew, but he'd gotten in his head that if he weren't around to look out for her something would happen. But he hoped that a few days apart would break down some of this ridiculous attachment he had to her.

The only thing, at times, that had kept him from grabbing her and kissing her hard was the fact that she'd used her charms on countless other men before him, and he refused to be one of her many swains.

As for her feelings, well there wasn't so much he could do about that. It was normal for a charge to become uneasy at being separated after the first month, but they were supposed to get over that fairly quickly. He had a feeling Ginny wouldn't get over it at all.

"So…ok. Are you done talking now? Because that was kind of a big bomb that you just exploded in my face."

Harry didn't meet her eyes as he handed her knife back, hilt first. Ginny made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat and jerked the knife out of his hand so fiercely that it took a small slice out of his index finger. Harry glanced accusingly at her before reaching for a paper towel to stem the bleeding.

"You deserve it, you horrible, stupid man!" She growled at him. She reached behind her and snatched a box of band-aids out of the cabinet she used to store medicines. She didn't even look at him when she tossed the box in his general direction.

Harry sighed inwardly.

His week did not get easier from there. Ginny was upset with him, which shouldn't have bothered him. So, he told himself that he was not bothered by it, even though he was. By Friday, she'd stopped talking to him directly, and by Sunday evening, she was hotly angry and snapped at everything.

Harry was leaning up against the refrigerator while Ginny flipped through a tabloid that had been stuck in her mail by mistake. Harry had become used to prolonged periods of silence in the past few days, so was startled when she let out an angry shriek. He jerked to attention, scanning the apartment for any signs of trouble.

Ginny glared at him.

"Oh, calm down!" she hissed, scathingly. "The only thing being threatened here is my virtue." She scoffed, throwing the paper into the trash next to him. She stalked into her bathroom, customarily leaving both doors opened, and Harry used the opportunity to glance down into the trash can.

"Weasley Caught Canoodling…Again!" The headline announced. Below was a picture of Ginny and her new Editor, Colin. They were leaning rather close, and looked as if they were about to kiss. Harry frowned. This picture had been taken last Thursday. The magazine had cropped him out of the frame, but he remembered being there.

They'd actually been having a very heated argument about some revisions that he wanted done to her latest piece. There was no way that they'd been about to kiss. Harry frowned at it and looked closer. There was some sort of writing leaking through from the back page. He reached down and flipped the magazine over.

Honey,

Canoodling without Me?

Bad move.

Hope your sweetie's ok…

Love, Me.

The message was scrawled in sharpie, and the same sharpie had been used to violently mark out the address that the magazine had originally been meant for. He was furious, but pushed his anger aside at the knock on the door.

He glanced into Ginny's room as he passed and heard the shower going. He flipped the locks and let Seamus Finnegan inside. Ginny had requested him specifically, and Harry had wanted to throw the young rookie a bone after handling the doll incident so well. Seamus bounced in.

"Thank you so much for the opportunity, sir. Lavender was so proud of me. Said as soon as I was done this week we'd take a trip down to-"

"Finnegan, I'm really sorry, but I've got to run to the station immediately. Are you all good here?" Harry interrupted, ready to bash some heads for letting the magazine get through to Ginny. Seamus held up his duffle bag.

"All set, sir." He said, nonplussed. "But don't you want to say goodbye to Miss Weasley before you go?" He asked. Harry shook his head, slowly, willing Ginny to come out of the bathroom so he could see her one last time before he…

"No, it's urgent." He told Seamus, stalking out the door and pounding down the steps. He didn't look back once.

_Like I said, short chapter, but the next one will be up tonight, so hang in there. I think it's time for a kiss, don't you…?_


	8. Chapter 8

_Here it is, Chapter 8! It's a little later than I thought, but I promised a chapter tonight and here it is. A chapter. Tonight. I hope you guys like it!_

Harry woke up early and irritated Monday morning. His night had been spent yelling at the incompetent pencil pushers who couldn't seem to do a simple job of sorting. What's the reason for having extra help, if they just made for extra work.

"From now on," He told them, "If so much as a misplaced hair gets into her hands, I'll have your hides." He'd snarled at the quivering group of desk cops. Their fear had only irritated him more, and Kingsley told him to go home before he accidentally shot someone.

But once home, he'd tossed and turned in his bed. It was indescribably more comfortable than the little cot in Ginny's hall, but he found himself waking up every half hour to look at Ginny, who was not in his bedroom. The fact made him more frustrated, but then led to thoughts of Ginny in his bedroom. In his bedroom in nothing but her tight yoga pants. In his bedroom in nothing. In his bed…

He'd shot out of bed and straight into a cold shower at around four a.m. and hadn't been able to go back to sleep. He threw on some shorts and stalked to the room where he kept his work out equipment, then stopped short.

His treadmill was at Ginny's.

_Fantastic_. He'd muttered to himself. _Just really great._ He'd fixed coffee and gotten the paper. He held his mug and stared at the sports section for a long time before he balled the whole paper up and threw it in the trash. For the rest of the day, he sat on his couch watching soccer and the news with the volume turned up as loud as possible.

When he'd woken Tuesday morning to a raging TV headache, he'd decided not to do that again. This morning, he'd forced himself to read the whole paper, drink at least half of his coffee, and spend an hour on the rowing machine.

He felt much better after his shower, but then found himself staring blankly out his window. What had he done before Ginny? He'd been taking a leave of absence before getting put on her case, but he couldn't really remember how he'd spent his days. He laughed at himself. His life had _not_ become centered around a little girl. He pulled out his phone at dialed Ron.

Soon, they'd made plans to meet at a pub Wednesday, and Harry spent the rest of his day giving his apartment a much-needed scrubbing.

When he woke up Wednesday, he had two voice mails from the police station. They'd finally had a break-through in Ginny's case. They'd gently scraped away the layers of sharpie, and found the original address the magazine had been sent to. The other message was from Kingsley, reminding Harry of a meeting they had on Thursday.

Harry showered and ran down the rest of his week. Meeting with Ron today, Kingsley on Thursday, then a day of rest on Friday before he went back to Ginny's. He grinned proudly into the foggy mirror. His world certainly did _not_ revolve around Miss Weasley. And yes, she was Miss Weasley, not Ginny.

He spent two hours on the rowing machine, drank two cups of coffee, and read the paper slowly. His eyes caught on a story. "Weasley's Charity Gala: Event of the Season". He read closely, filing the information in his head.

Molly Weasley was putting on her annual charity gala to benefit the children's program she sponsored, Meals From Molly, for the inner-city youth that didn't always get regular nutrition. The gala this year was supposed to be the biggest yet, and all of New York's upper society was going to be there.

Harry hesitantly flipped the page when he was done. The gala was set for Friday night. Surely, Ginny wouldn't plan to go to such a risky event without him? He brushed the thought aside until he brought it up to Ron later than night.

"Of course she's going!" He'd said, darkly. "We all are. It's not optional." Ron peered down at Harry over his glass. "Why, do you think she'll use you as an excuse to get out of it? That conniving little…"

"No! I'm just…I'm not sure it'd be the best idea. I mean, I won't be there." Harry trailed off, weakly, taking a pointed interest in the pretzels. He could feel Ron looking at him.

"But she's with a suitable replacement, right?" He asked. Harry hastened to assure him that yes, Seamus Finnegan was a great cop, and she was in great hands.

"I just worry it might present the stalker with a non-united front. Consistency is key, in these situations." He covered smoothly, then directed conversation back to Hermione, who wanted him to come to the Granger-Possibly-Weasley household for dinner the next day.

On Thursday, when Harry woke, he decided he was done with the rower for a while. He put on his tennis shoes and headed out for a nice, long run before his meeting with Kingsley. His headphones were firmly planted in his ears, as they been most of the time he'd been home.

The silence that he'd loved so much before just seemed deafening without Ginny there to fill it. She had a way of making even the most boring day interesting, just with her chatter. Harry allowed himself to smile as he thought of her, knowing that out in the open, between only himself and his iPod, his indulgent thoughts were safe.

Harry lengthened his stride and let himself remember his favorite picture of a barely-clad Ginny coming out of bathroom in only a sports bra and tiny boxer style shorts. "_No peeking, perv_!" She'd smiled at him and rushed into the privacy of her closet to get a shirt. Not before Harry had seen a flush creeping up her neck. He let his thoughts wander in that general direction, musing about Ginny and what she was doing without him.

When he looked up and hour later, he knew that letting his thoughts lead him had been a bad choice. He ducked quickly around a corner when he saw Ginny and Seamus coming out of her building. Harry looked down at his feet and cursed them for taking him here without his permission. He risked another peek around the corner and saw them heading towards her work, laughing.

Harry frowned, but turned around and commanded his feet to take him home, no funny business this time. When he thought it was safe, he began to roll some things around in his brain.

They'd been laughing. Harry and Ginny never laughed. Ginny laughed at herself, or Harry stopped himself from laughing at her, but they never really did that together. Finnegan was a lucky guy, to be able to develop a real short-term relationship with her.

_Yeah, really lucky_. Harry thought icily, thinking of how Ginny had requested the rookie specifically. Were they close? He wondered. Then he remembered Finnegan hugging Ginny after the doll incident, how they'd gotten along really well since then. What had happened when he'd been gone…?

_Nope_. Harry shook his head harshly against that vein of thought and jogged up his front steps. _Not going to go there. Ginny…Miss Weasley…is perfectly allowed to have as many friends as she wants. That's not my concern._

He was still convincing himself of this when he walked into Kingsley's office. They discussed Harry's leave of absence, if he was going to take it back up after this assignment, and the psych evaluation coming up next week.

"Well, is Miss Weasley being a bit more cooperative?" the Commander asked, walking Harry to the front door.

"Much, sir. She's got a problem with the gag rule, but other than that she's calmed down a lot." Shacklebolt nodded.

"I could tell this morning."

"This morning, sir?" Harry asked, stopping in front of the doors.

"Yes. She was here with young Seamus, discussing security measures for the Gala tomorrow." Kingsley waved at a co-worker. Harry tried to re-start his heart, which had stalled at this stunning news.

"So, she's going, then?" he asked. "She's going to a party, with over four-hundred people, in one of the biggest buildings in town, that has virtually zero safety precautions? And she's going without me?" Harry fought to keep his voice down.

"Is there a problem, Potter?" His superior looked down his nose at him. Harry cleared his throat.

"No, sir. I just think it's a good opportunity for the stalker to make themselves known, and I'd like to present a united front." Right, sure. Same load of crap he'd fed Ron. Except it didn't seem to have the same effect on Kingsley, who still looked mildly suspicious.

"Finnegan's a good agent, Potter, and a good man. We've been over the security reports back and front several times."

Harry pushed away the urge to hang his head sheepishly. Shacklebolt laid a heavy hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Working by the book is a good thing, son. But sometimes, an agent has to throw the book out the window and talk to the pretty soccer player."

This sentenced buzzed in Harry's head for the rest of the day, and wouldn't even be quiet at Hermione and Ron's. Was his Commander actually sanctioning a breach in protocol? Surely, not. And yet, that's what it had sounded like to Harry.

Was he so obvious that his own boss was calling him out on his infatuation for Ginny? Even after a very pleasant evening with the Granger-Possibly-Weasleys, Harry went to bed confused, and could hardly sleep.

When Harry finally gave up and sat up in bed early Friday morning, he had to admit to himself that he was not able to fill his life with much of anything anymore, without Ginny. It had only been four weeks, but it had been four weeks that had, somehow, changed him deeply.

He knew her, everything about her. And while she might not feel the same for him, exactly, because she had almost no knowledge of him, he was able to say with perfect certainty that he'd been listening to the girl talk for almost thirty days straight, and was fascinated by her, obsessed by her. His brain touched on another feeling, a deeper one, but he shied away from it, rubbing his tired, gritty eyes as he stepped into the shower.

The only comforting thought that Harry could find was that he'd see Ginny tomorrow morning, at the latest, and tonight, at the earliest, if she were up late enough. He shut off the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He had no jaunty grin for his smoky reflection, this morning. He hung his head and faced facts.

He didn't want to work out without Ginny, he didn't want to drink coffee without Ginny, and he certainly didn't want to read the paper without her and her witty commentary. He felt doomed to boredom.

He spent the rest of the day cleaning out the hazardously over-packed closets in the weight room, which hadn't been touched in years. It took him four hours to get through the first, but he looked around with satisfaction when it was done. The state of this first closet was enough to make even his Aunt Petunia proud, and that was saying something.

He moved on the second, pleased that he was keeping his mind off Ginny. That is, until he heard an ominous rustling when he lifted a large box from the depths of the storage space. He looked down and, sure enough, there was a large, rather saucy poster of Ginny Weasley staring back at him. He dropped the box unceremoniously beside him. Fortunately, he was pretty sure that it was merely filled with old academy sweatshirts.

"The soccer balls…" Harry groaned, crouching to pick the poster off of the floor. It was wrinkled and bent, but he was able to straighten it back out rather quickly. He grew hard rather quickly as well.

_The problem_, he thought, _that comes with living with our own personal fantasy, is that you don't have much time to actually fantasize._ He stared at the poster in apparent agony for a long time. It was true that he hadn't had a lot of opportunities to…take care of himself throughout his stay at Ginny's. He often woke up with a throbbing erection, but couldn't start in on his "happy time" right there in her hall. And it'd look suspicious if he showered before their workouts, so Harry had made tolerated, these past few weeks, with some of the horniest thoughts and bluest balls he'd ever known, even as a teenager.

Harry gently, reverently, laid the poster on the floor and hesitatingly sank his hand into his shorts. _No time like the present, and all that…_ then his mind went blissfully blank, save for hot, flickering images of Ginny biting her soft lips, or running her hands over his body. Images of Ginny that he knew were wildly inappropriate and no where near bureau-approved. Ginny on her knees in front of him, teasing him with her hot mouth, her red hair tossed haphazardly over her shoulder, barely hiding the curve of her breasts…

Harry groaned loudly as he reached completion. He allowed himself a moment of recovery, panting and standing there, standing there at Ginny's siren eyes.

He whirled away in disgust, changing and cleaning himself quickly. How had he become this person? This man who was so infatuated that he was reduced to jerking off in front of a four-year-old picture of Ginny Weasley?

"Stupid." He muttered to himself. _Masochistic._ His brain chimed in. He had to agree to both accounts. He could barely go a week without the girl, and now he was pining after her and reduced himself to doing housework to get his mind off of her.

His cell phone rang from the other room, and he had to resist the urge to punch his own reflection as he passed the bathroom mirror.

All it took was a look down at his phone's screen, though, to pull him out of his melancholy thoughts.

"Seamus?" He answered, his heart immediately kicking into overdrive as he heard the familiar sound of sirens on the other end of the line.

"Agent Potter, sir, there's been an incident. We need an…an extraction? Sir…I'm so sorry."

"Give me five minutes." Harry breathed, snapping his phone shut and all but sprinting out the door. He barely paused to find his keys and pull shoes on his feet.

Seamus had sounded scared, really scared. And that terrified Harry. He had no idea the state that Ginny was in. Finnegan hadn't told him what had happened, but there hadn't been time for that.

All Harry knew was that Ginny was alive. The word, "extraction", was enough evidence of that. Seamus had hesitated to use it, though. It meant failure on the agent's fault. It meant that not only back up, but replacement was needed. It meant that whatever had happened, Seamus was scared enough to risk his job.

Harry pounded down the steps of his building to the covered garage where he'd parked his car. He'd never been more thankful for the sheer amount of horsepower that his baby possessed until that moment.

He slid into the driver's seat and flicked on the lights and siren that the bureau had installed a couple months ago. He wasn't planning on stopping for anything.

True to his word, within five minutes, he was pulling the Mustang to a stop in front of the Rochester building, a historic hotel known for its extravagant parties and even more extravagant guests. His heart leaped when he spotted a flash of red hair. He tore out of his car before realizing that it was Bill.

Another flash of red had him spinning to look at Fred or George. Harry didn't have time to decipher which one it was. He focused his eyes and stopped looking for red, but blue. Dark blue. Police blue. His eyes scanned and he found what he was looking for. Across the street, a group of six or seven policemen were making a small circle around the hood of a cruiser.

Harry ran flat-out. As soon as he was close enough, one of the officers spotted him.

"Potter!" The man shouted, waving him forward and making a break in the circle…to reveal a terrified and bedraggled Ginny Weasley.

Harry saw the transformation in her immediately when her eyes caught hold of him. Her face, which had previously remained admirably dry, became soaked with tears. Her shocked, slack expression transformed into one of hope and heartbreaking relief. Her arms reached up for him, inadvertently shrugging off the tuxedo jacket she'd had draped over her shoulders. She didn't seem to care and he certainly didn't.

They came together fiercely, clutching each other tightly. He heard numbers and statistics being thrown his way, and could guess at what they were, time of assault, number off officers in the area, or anything in between. He didn't care in the slightest.

For the first time in five days, he felt like he could breathe. He hadn't realized that his chest had been so constricted these past few days, but it was. He took one deep breath after another, feeling her frigid fingers find their way beneath his shirt to press against his bare skin. He still didn't know what had happened, but he knew that he had to get her out of here. He had to stop those terrible, soul-wrenching sobs that were echoing out of her mouth. He needed to get her safe and here, on this open street in the middle of downtown, was not safe.

He used one arm to tuck her head into his shoulder, and reached the other out to the closest officer, hardly noticing the man's curious look.

"I need the incident report before I take her home." He told the man, and watched as he searched the area frantically for the official report.

"One moment, sir." The man said, and walked purposefully out of the ring of officers. Beyond them, on the other side of the street and half-way in the road, Weasleys were everywhere, looking right at him. He couldn't read the looks on their faces from this far away, but took a guess that they were more than a little worried. He waved in their direction, letting them know that he had the situation under control. As under control as he could, shaking, suffering a mild panic attack, and clutching their daughter so tightly that is was a miracle she could breathe.

The officer ran up, carrying with him an official-looking clipboard.

"Here's a copy of the report, sir." He said, handing it over. He kept an air of professionalism about him, despite the fact that Harry was firmly attached to a sobbing girl. Harry appreciated it.

"Is there anything else you need?" The man asked. Harry's appreciation raised a bit more.

"Get these streets clear. She doesn't need to be here, I'm taking her out." Harry hesitated, holding Ginny closer as her sobs increased. "What's your name?" He asked, wanting to know who was this helpful cop that was so efficient.

"Longbottom, sir. And no, that's not a joke." He smiled wryly at Harry and motioned for the cars around them to clear out. "Get her home safe, sir." Longbottom nodded to Harry as he half-carried Ginny out into the street to his car. Harry nodded back and opened the door, setting Ginny softly down on the seats. He looked around warily when he realized she wasn't letting go of his shirt. He could understand her feelings, he didn't want to be more than three inches away from her, either, but they didn't need any more attention.

"Ginny, I know. I know." He crooned in what he hoped was a soothing voice. In truth he was too shaken up to have any control of his vocal chords, and the words were more shaky than he'd wanted.

"I know, ok?" He repeated, peeling her hands off of his shoulders. "But this isn't the place, ok? You've had enough attention. You need to go home. I need to get you home…" He trailed off, looking around again and hoping they weren't making a scene.

"No!" Ginny's voice caught between her cries. "No! No-t-t h-home. It's not s-s-s-safe." She sobbed. He nodded once, understanding.

"Fine. We're going back to my place. But, Ginny, you have to let go." He said the last part softly, and he felt as though he had to coerce her into releasing him. When she finally did let go with a great shudder, Harry shut the passenger door and ran to the other side.

The officer, Longbottom, had done a good job, and when Harry started the car, the way in front of him was clear. He rocketed the Mustang out into traffic and gunned the engine. He glanced at the clock.

The whole maneuver in front of the hotel had taken less than three minutes, but he felt like years had been taken off of his life. Beside him Ginny was curled into the door, crying. He wanted to reach out and hold her, but kept his eyes on the road. There was time for that later. Now, his only objective was to get her away from the scene of…What? The crime? What had happened tonight to get her so shaken up?

Ginny was one of the most solid people he knew. He'd learned that much over the last weeks. So what had been so terrible to get her in this state?

He turned on his lights and blasted through a red light, barely missing a white mini-van as it crossed the intersection. He didn't even pause, but pressed the accelerator further to the floor, weaving in and out of traffic as fast as he could.

Finally, he was able to slide into his car into the covered lot and jam the gear into _park_. As soon as the car had stopped moving, he was reaching for Ginny.

She uncurled herself and pounced into his lap. She could barely fit between him and the steering wheel, but somehow maneuvered into a position where she was solidly in his arms. He buried his face in her hair.

"It w-was ho-hor-horrible." She cried into his neck, and his arms tightened around her. "The…the blades-s-s…" Harry found himself severely alarmed, despite the fact that he could barely understand her. He _had_ been able to understand the word 'blades', though, and his hands rushed to her body, feeling for any blood. He found none, but pushed his confusion to the side.

He inhaled deeply, gathering her flowery scent into himself. His mind went curiously blank as he held her, let her cry herself out.

"Breathe, Gin. Just breathe, ok? Come on, take a deep breath for me." He repeated over and over. Finally, she seemed to come to. Her tears were still flowing, but she was able to inhale deeply. He nodded encouragingly.

"Can you make it upstairs?" He asked; his hands never stopped moving. They traveled from her face to her hair to her back and up again. He was feeling her, frantically, trying to do anything to calm her, and himself.

She nodded shakily and let him pop her out of his lap when he'd opened the car door. To his surprise, once they got out of the car, she moved quickly, following his hand on her back and his directions on where to go.

Harry heaved a great sigh when he had closed his solid, oak door behind them and was able to turn all four locks. No one was getting in tonight, he was sure of that. In the dark of his flat, he reached his hands out for Ginny, and she huddled against him once more. Her sobs were lessening, but her tears were still coming. Harry knew, logically, that it was the shock kicking in, and that her body was automatically shutting itself down, but in his frantic mind, he thought that maybe she just felt safer in his arms.

He held her for a long time in his entryway. Long past when his back started to cramp from supporting her. Eventually, he was able to register that his right hand was clutched tightly in her hair, and that a large hairpin was digging into his skin.

Next, he felt his left hand on her back, brushing against bare skin. His hand stilled, then traveled down…down…

"What are you wearing?" He whispered to her. She snorted and her body shook harder. He assumed that she was trying to laugh through the tears. He let the question go, saving it for a time when she could answer him properly.

Eventually, he guided them to his couch, and then collapsed on it. Harry was exhausted after so many sleepless nights, and Ginny, though trying with great effort to stop crying, was no longer in control of her body, which shook and clung to him. Harry didn't mind.

In time, the rushed movements of Harry's hand on her back slowed to something that could actually be considered "soothing", and Ginny's tears had slowed to a sniffle. It was then that Harry realized three things.

One: That Ginny's dress was swept considerably lower in the back than he'd originally anticipated.

Two: Ginny's dress also had a rather long slit up the front, that had allowed her to maneuver so that she was straddling him.

Three: That he had a very obvious erection.

Harry was mortified, and turned positively red when Ginny shifted, then stilled. She felt it, too. Her breathing caught and his hands tightened on her back as she slowly pulled away from him. He was sure that they made a funny picture, him in his jeans and her in her ball-gown, but he didn't care.

She looked down into his eyes and shifted again. Purposefully. Harry hissed.

"Ginny, stop. This isn't-"

"Please, Harry." She whispered. Her voice broke, and so did his heart along with it. A tear crept down her cheek. "It's been…terrible." She confided in him. Her nose shifted to slide along his, and he watched her eyes close.

"This night is horrible. Make it better." She pleaded. "Please, Harry. Help me. Make it-" Her face caved into more tears, but Harry didn't see.

His lips were suddenly on hers, and his breath froze in his lungs. He heard Ginny's breath catch, as well. He moved his lips softly over hers, and she opened them, quietly.

Before he could hold himself back, Harry plunged into her mouth and he'd crushed her body to his. Ginny moaned and her tongue eagerly battled with his.

The night was suddenly forgotten as Harry turned himself over to the blissful ignorance of kissing Ginny Weasley.

_Oh! Bit of a cliff hanger, but don't worry, I plan on updating soon. Review if you like it, or if you don't! Thanks, guys!_


	9. Chapter 9

_Harry's lips moved hungrily against hers. Ginny felt herself grow heated and arched her neck into his kisses. _

"_Ginny." She'd almost died, hearing him say her name. His hands were everywhere, feeling the bare skin of her back, rocking her hips closer to his. She felt the hard ridge of his erection pressed against her softness, and moaned. _

"_Ginny." He groaned again. "This is bad." His mouth trailed kisses down her jaw while his hands played with the thin straps on her dress. "This is really bad." He breathed against her ear, and she couldn't find it in her to talk. She'd opened her mouth to tell him exactly how good it really was, when she felt his hands dip into the back of her dress. _

_His calloused palm moved down, feeling the ridges of her spine. She gasped and arched against him, his hands delving lower to cup her ass. He froze, then, and so did she, just because he had._

_He pulled back and they looked at each other. Him, with amazement and a touch of horror, her with confused, slumberous eyes. _

"_What?" She'd asked, leaning forward to brush his damp lips again. He gripped her hips firmly and slid her to the edge of his lap._

"_You're not wearing underwear." He told her, seriously. She blinked at him, not quite sure of what to say. She couldn't deny it. The evidence was sitting right there in his hand. _

"_You're not wearing underwear, and I…I should never know that. This is the biggest breach in-" He jerked his hand, suddenly, out of her dress as if he'd been burned. _

Ginny replayed the scene over and over again in her head. She didn't have the guts to open her eyes, yet. She knew that beside her, Harry was awake. He had been all night, even as she had tossed in and out of consciousness.

After the Underwear Incident, as she was referring to it, he'd brushed her hair apologetically out of her face and led her to his bedroom, though the look he'd given her precluded any ideas on her part of what they were going to be doing in here.

"Just sleep, Ginny." He'd said, tiredly. "Go to sleep. For me." He'd added when she'd opened her mouth to argue. Her mouth had snapped shut and she'd crawled into his bed, dress and all, and fallen asleep almost immediately.

When she woke the first time, Harry had been in an armchair in the corner of the room, but rushed to her.

"What?" She'd asked, confused.

"You were screaming. You woke yourself up." He'd said, fussing with her blankets. Ginny had looked up at him sleepily and fallen promptly back to sleep when she felt his cool hands on her face.

When she'd woken up again, the armchair had been moved directly next to the bed. His knee had been less than a foot away from her nose.

And now, now she was squeezing her eyes shut like a coward and hoping he'd leave, even though she knew that he was not going to. His steady breathing beside her was keeping her calm for now, and her embarrassment over last night was keeping her from remembering the gala.

At that thought, she winced, forcing her mind away from those horrible thoughts. Harry shifted.

"Ginny? Are you ok?" He asked softly, and she opened her eyes when she felt his hands on her shoulder. "What's wrong? Another nightmare?"

She sighed. No. This had been real life. There was no escaping it, or writing it off as a creation of her subconscious. She sighed and pushed the covers, and his hand out of the way.

"I need a shower." She muttered, walking past him to the en suite, not quite able to look him in the eyes.

oOo

Harry slid his hands under his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Maybe if he pressed hard enough he could erase the image of Ginny in that torturous, barely there dress, arching against him.

_Fuck_. He thought to himself. Just now, when she'd gotten up, the dress had been twisted around her body, showing him more of her chest than she'd have wanted him to see.

And she didn't want him to see it. He'd seen the shame in her face when she'd walked past him. That kiss last night had been a mistake. Harry dropped his hands and heard his shower turn on.

He stalked to the dresser and jerked a drawer open. He felt like a prick. He was a prick. He'd taken advantage of his charge when she'd been vulnerable and hadn't known what she was getting into.

He jerked his smallest pajama bottoms and an old academy shirt out of the drawer and punched it closed, which left a lovely stinging sensation in his knuckles. He laid the clothes out on the bed.

_No underwear…_

"Fuck." He swore out loud and stalked down the hall. Maybe if he could stop feeling her hands on his chest, or her body sliding against his body, his dick. He couldn't stop smelling her perfume, or feeling the silk of her skin against his hands. Her hair…

It had been like heaven to slide it through his fingers. It moved like watered silk against him, had caught on his neck and face…

Harry growled and held back the urge to punch something else, like his stainless steel refrigerator. His eyes landed on the incident report and flicked back to his bedroom. She' be at least another twenty minutes.

He settled at his kitchen table and opened the file, cautiously.

_The subject suffered a panic attack when cutting into her food. Once inspected, the officer found that there were razor blades imbedded in the chicken breast, which was raw, and the potato, which had been dyed dark red. _

_At this time, the officer was informed by his team that the security camera positions had been moved, and every camera in the ballroom was facing the subject. When the officer began to move the subject to a secure location, the building's power was cut off and when the generators turned on, there was blood on the floor in front of the subject and officer. _

_Subject was taken outside to a secure location. _

Harry tried to hold in his own panic attack and flipped through the remaining pages. He'd taken it off of the officer in charge before it could be finished, but other pages contained a list of staff that had access to the ballroom and cameras, about twenty interviews from kitchen staff, and a preliminary order for the analysis of the food and blood.

Harry jerked and reached for his gun when there was a knock on the door. He let out a breath.

"Calm down, Potter." He muttered to himself, checking who was there. He let Kingsley and Finnegan in quickly, checking the halls before shutting the door.

"Bad business, here. How's she holding up?" Kingsley asked. Finnegan shifted from side to side and looked guiltily at his feet.

"She's…up. I think it scared her pretty badly." Harry admitted, offering them seats at the table and starting the coffee pot.

"Well, of course she's scared! He was close enough to spray blood on the floor, close enough to touch her!" Finnegan burst out, still not meeting Harry's eyes. Harry and Kingsley exchanged a glance.

"Seamus." Harry clapped his hands on the young officer's shoulder. "This wasn't your fault. If anything, it's mine for not being there to check the positions of the staff… I shouldn't have left." He looked at Kingsley.

"I don't care what bureau rule is, this case is different, and it's a priority. I don't care how long it takes, I shouldn't be forced away from her if she's still in danger." He said. Kingsley blinked back at him, considering. "And it's the only thing I've ever asked for from the bureau. I'm one of your best agents, and I've given you everything you've wanted. You can give me this."

It wasn't often that Harry threw his weight around, so when he did, he liked to think that he was hear pretty clearly. Kingsley squinted at him, his eyes flicking to Finnegan and back. He finally nodded.

"I think you're right." He said. Harry sat back with a sigh. "But, I also think that you've already passed that attachment barrier?" He asked, Harry looked back steadily, trying not to give anything away. "I don't want this to be like the Riddle case, Harry. Be careful." He warned, and Harry ducked his head.

"Yes, sir." He muttered, but wasn't heard over Ginny's cry of "Seamus!" The young man's head snapped up, and he rushed to Ginny. They embraced in the hallway for a long time. Harry frowned at the pair.

It was clear the Ginny was whispering something to her, and when Finnegan shook his head, she frowned and continued talking. Harry didn't like the picture they made, or the fact that they'd been so eager to see each other. What, exactly, had happened when he'd been away?

Beside him, Kingsley cleared his throat, snapping Harry out of what might have been a wildly jealous glare.

"We'll take that coffee at a later date, I think." He said, rising. "Harry, this is for you." He slid a packet of papers across the tables before calling, "Finnegan!" and walking to the door.

Ginny and Seamus reluctantly released each other, and Harry heard her say, "I'll see you soon, ok?"

Harry followed the officers out and locked the doors behind them before returning to the table. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, he slid Ginny's incident report and the new papers under a stack of old magazines. It didn't work. She noticed.

"Is that the report?" She asked from behind him. He grimaced and turned to face her. He had to focus on not smiling.

She was standing in his hallway where Seamus had left her. Even his smallest flannel pants were hanging off her body, and his tee shirt went almost down to her knees, the sleeves hanging to her elbows.

_And underneath all that, she's not wearing a bra or panties._ A lustful voice told him. Harry took a breath.

"Yes, it is." He told her, tearing his eyes away so that he could pour two cups of coffee. He sat back down and set the mugs on the table, nudging on towards her. She walked cautiously towards him.

"You're talking to me." She said, perching gently on the end of her chair, not touching her coffee. He grimaced and looked at her, nudging her cup at her again.

"Yes. I am." He was relieved when she finally took a sip. After the trauma she'd had, he knew that he would have to watch all of her eating and drinking. Some PTSD symptoms included not eating. _Not on my watch_. He thought, grimly, staring at her.

"Why?"

Harry looked at her incredulously over his glasses. She sighed and looked away, picking her cup back up.

"Right. The Underwear Incident." She muttered. Harry snorted, spraying coffee onto the table. Ginny smiled softly at him.

"Well, that's what it was. I prefer to call a spade a spade." Harry wiped his mouth with a napkin and sighed.

"Ginny, that can't happen again."

"I know."

Harry paused. She somehow had a hard time meeting his gaze, again. He knew that he shouldn't have brought it up, but he knew that he'd had to. He was beginning to worry that he wouldn't be able to protect her, properly, if he was constantly fantasizing about her. Naked. Moaning. Hands tunneling through his hair…

He cleared his throat and shifted, trying to stop his body's reaction before it started. Ginny was staring at her hands.

"Are you going to look at it, or what?" She asked, nodding towards the hidden report. Harry peeled the magazines off of the two files, retrieving the one that Kingsley had just given him.

"I read the report while you were in the shower." He replied, not taking his eyes off her. "Ginny, I'm so sorry. I should have been there. I never should have let you go-"

Ginny's cup slammed down on the table. "What were you going to do, Harry? Clone yourself and personally test every dish that came out of the kitchen? Stare at every single camera? I don't think so. I wish you would all stop blaming yourselves. It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have done anything to prevent it! Same for Seamus…"

"Yes, I'm sure that you were very quick to assure _Seamus_ that he was completely guilt free." Harry growled before he could stop himself. Ginny's eyes snapped to his.

"You have a problem with Officer Finnegan now, too?" She spat, rising to refill her cup. Harry frowned.

"What do you mean, have a problem with him "too"? Who am I supposed to have an issue with?" Harry was upset that one of their first ever prolonged conversations was this snippy. Ginny set down the pot of brew and took a deep breath before looking at him.

"Listen, I understand if you're upset with me, but-"

"You?" Harry cut her off. "What would I be mad at you for?" He asked, surprised and more than a little confused.

"I knew you wouldn't want me to go the party. I knew you'd want to be there, and I went anyways." She told him, her frown deepening. "And I know that I shouldn't have made such a scene during the dinner. It…it wasn't that big a deal. And I know that you're upset with me for practically attacking you last night…" She dropped her gaze, but not before Harry could see a sheen of tears forming there.

He stood and walked towards her slowly, one foot at a time.

"Ginny, I…I'm not mad for any of those things. I'm not mad at all, actually." He paused, shuffling closer. "You had to go to that gala. It's your family's charity. It would be crazy for you not to. And you were reacting naturally to a horrifying thing, during dinner. I'd have done the same thing, in your shoes." Ginny scoffed softly at him, but lifted her head. He was pleased to find that her eyes were dry.

"And," He continued, "you didn't attack me, last night. I basically pounced on you when you were emotionally compromised…" Here, Ginny scoffed again.

"Harry, I was practically begging you." She her ears turned red and a blush stole into her cheeks. "I just…was really upset and, I…missed…you." She said, her face now bright red.

Harry suddenly didn't know what to do with his hands. He wished he could grab her around the waist and drag her against him, but he didn't think that would fall into the category of "being careful", as Kingsley had warned him.

"I was just as upset as you were." He kept his voice low. "And, honestly, I didn't know what to do with myself for a week, without you."

Ginny's eyes widened.

"Yeah." Harry cleared his throat uncomfortably. "But, that doesn't mean that I can just go around kissing you whenever I get the urge-"

"You _wanted _to kiss me last night?" She asked in amazement. "But…but I thought that I made you! I was-"

"It's not like you had a gun to my head, Gin." Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, wishing that they weren't having this embarrassing conversation. "And, for what it's worth, I enjoyed the begging a little more than I should have." He dropped his hand to glare at her. "But, I repeat, that does _not_ mean that I can just grab you whenever I feel like it."

Her blush had softened to a flattering pink and she gaped at him.

"It's not professional and it will interfere with my duties as your guardian. So, Ginny, that can't happen again, understood?"

She stared at him a moment longer before nodding. "Agreed." She said. Harry nodded, too. They were suddenly both very unsure of themselves, and now he _really_ didn't know what to do with his hands. They shared an awkward moment before she broke the silence.

"What's in the file?" She asked softly, and he snapped to attention, walking back to the table and sliding it towards him.

"I'm not sure…" He opened it. He could feel her eyes on him as he read down a list of ingredients in the potatoes, the types and make of blades from her chicken, the type of blood that had been used (sheep's), and finally, a suspect list. His eyes scanned it and his eyebrows shot up.

"It seems like we have someone in common." He told her, dragging his gaze up from the words in front of him. "What does the name 'Draco Malfoy' mean to you?"

Ginny frowned. "He was the owner of my old soccer team. Why? What's he mean to you?" She looked at him confusedly.

"I just put his dad in jail three months ago, for conspiracy for murder on twelve accounts, for the Riddle case."

Ginny gasped. "What is that list?" She asked, attempting to grab it out of his hands. He pulled back quickly.

"It's a list of suspects. You really don't need to see the rest of it." He added, knowing that she'd be infuriated by a few choice suspects. Her best friend, Luna, for instance, and her new boss, Colin. Ginny scowled at him.

"Fine. But why would Malfoy have motive to harass me?"

"Didn't you leave his team on bad terms?"

Ginny shrugged. "I was at the peak of my career, and his highest grossing player. Would you be happy with me if I left?"

Harry frowned. It seemed like a bit of a stretch to him. He rolled the facts over in his mind and he unfocused his eyes.

He'd have to go into the files at base and look at all of the letters in front of him. He'd also request more lab tests to the doll and the food. He'd see if there was any extra DNA in the blood they'd extracted from the carpets in the Rochester Ballroom.

Maybe if he sent a team to the video control room, they could dust for prints on the panels used to control camera angles. They had to be missing something. The list in his hand was too broad, and he could discredit half of the people on it. He tapped the file on the table and refocused his eyes.

They were staring directly at Ginny chest, and she was staring back at him, smirking smugly. Harry let out a ragged sigh. This was going to be a rough couple of days, until he could convince her, and himself, that her apartment was safe, again.

"Let's get you some of your own clothes, shall we?" he asked, reaching for his phone and dialing the officer in charge of guard duty today.

Ginny grinned and leaned back in her chair, causing her breasts and hard nipples to press against the thin fabric of his shirt.

Harry dropped his head into his hand and specifically requested "as much underwear as you can find" to be sent immediately to his apartment, along with her clothes and some toiletries. Ginny laughed out loud at him.

He was torn between embarrassment at his obvious request, and pleasure that he had distracted her enough to laugh.

_A rough couple of days indeed_. He thought, trying to keep his eyes off her.

_Well, there we have it! Chapter nine. I hate when some stories try and hide that sexual tension is there, or if a kiss happens. I prefer to keep things out in the open. It'll also put some great pressure on Harry's restraint._


	10. Chapter 10

_Ok, here's chapter ten. It might be a bit slow, but just stick with me. Enjoy!_

By the next Tuesday, Harry wanted to pull his hair out.

He hadn't slept, and now spent most of his time either having evidence and documents brought to his apartment, or arguing with Ginny.

Since the attack at the Gala, she'd been staunchly resistant to change. Harry had read about it in a million cases. Human nature said that the more things change, the more people wanted them to stay the same. Ginny was no different.

At first, she'd balked at having to stay in his apartment for a week.

"What about my stuff?" She exclaimed over breakfast Sunday morning.

"We'll have it brought to you. If we're going to do a thorough bug search, it could take at least a week. We've got to check all the lamps, light fixtures, under all the carpets-" She'd thrown her bread crusts at him.

Next, she'd been furious when he wouldn't let her family come see her. This, he'd understood, but had explained very patiently that she wasn't going anywhere, and the details of her location was being closely guarded for as long as possible. The only thing he could do was set her up an untraceable phone account so that she could call them.

She'd thrown her current phone at him.

"You can't make me stay home from work, Harry, I'll lose my job. Colin's just itching for me to mess up! He's sent my piece on the women's leagues back four times. _Four times, _Harry! In the writing world, that means on thing: thin ice."

This argument had been yesterday, when she'd woken up and asked for her work clothes. Harry had informed her that she was taking a vacation week, and she hadn't been pleased. The only way to pacify her was to ship her laptop from her apartment to his, along with her printer from work.

And all throughout these arguments, he'd had to constantly keep himself in check. He was exhausted from the lack of sleep, even though his cot had been moved into his bedroom, he hardly slept, instead either watching Ginny sleep or re-reading the files of evidence he'd collected.

Neither of them had worked out since Thursday morning, and they were both growing irritated at the pent up energy. And there was tons of energy.

From their fights, constantly getting in each other's way in his cramped apartment, and, of course, the sexual tension that was reaching ridiculous heights.

Despite their blunt conversation Saturday morning and Ginny's desire to "call a spade a spade", Harry's attraction for her was still suppressed. Every time he looked at her, he remembered the feel of her lips on his.

The fact that he could now talk to her didn't help, either, even though he'd been sure that it would relieve some of his feelings. It didn't. Now, he was constantly watching his words, determined not to slip up.

His eyes, also, had a tendency to wander to parts of her body that he should not be so interested in. He spent all Tuesday staring at the files in front of him, stubbornly avoiding contact with her. Which proved to be more difficult than he'd thought, because he'd already memorized all the reports, and couldn't concentrate on information he already knew.

They were both jumpy and itchy when they settled into bed that night. Harry laid awake, blinking at the ceiling for a long time before his eyes shut and he fell into a sleep filled with strange dreams of dancing chickens, toast crusts, and Ginny's boss.

oOo

Ginny blinked her eyes open wearily. While she knew, logically, that she didn't have to go to work today, her brain had yet to tell her body that, and she'd woken up too early. Again. She turned her head, expecting to find Harry's green eyes peering back at her, but was surprised to find him still on his back, asleep.

A small smile played across her lips and she let herself look at him for a few minutes. She'd never really seen him sleep. Or, even with his eyes closed, come to think of it. He was the most protective, stubborn person she'd ever known.

_I guess that's what makes him so good at his job_. She thought, grudgingly. She glanced at his strong jaw, and couldn't help but remember the feeling of his rough stubble against her neck.

_It was one, stupid kiss, Weasley! Get yourself together._ She told herself. She really _did_ need to do something soon. She hadn't left Harry's tiny apartment in almost four days, and she was starting to feel it. She needed to get out, go for a run, get away from Harry and his intense, knowing gaze.

He had to know that she was thinking about him all the time, it must have read on her face, because his eyes had been glued to her for almost the entire four days.

Ginny slid quietly out of bed, silently padding out of the room. Even while she loved Harry's eyes and his new, fiercely protective attitude towards her, his stare just sharpened her awareness of him, which was already sharp enough, thank you.

Ginny felt that her need for him had risen and risen, until it filled up the entire apartment and made her want to burst. She was aroused almost constantly. Her senses were bombarded with an endless stream of him, the smell of his soap in the shower, the sight of his broad shoulders, the taste of him still not quite leaving her tongue.

She had to resist the urge to growl as she pushed open the door to the weight room. It was not a room she'd visited yet, during her stay, and she breathed in the sunny air, which felt untainted by her frustration. She grinned at the familiar sight of the rowing machine. Harry had told her that it was his treadmill at her place, but she could get a good, solid sweat on, with the rower.

Her gaze traveled to the other side of the room. There were two closets, both flung open. One was immaculate, and Ginny stepped closer to admire it. She could never keep her closets clean. The other was only half done, but she assumed that it was an ongoing project.

She eyed the foot straps on the rower's pedals, and turned to the door, deciding to get her running shoes.

As she turned, however, the sunlight from the uncovered window hit against a large sheet of shiny paper on the floor. She brought her hand up to shield her eyes against the glare, and stepped forward to see what the light had caught on.

The spots cleared from her vision, and she found herself inexplicably staring at…herself.

Ginny gaped down at it, at a loss for words. The poster had to be at least four, maybe even five years old! She'd remembered her parents had been upset over it.

"_It's scandalous!" Her mother had exclaimed, pointing a spatula at her. "It's not appropriate for an eighteen year old girl!" Her father had silently nodded in the background, looking like he'd rather not be there. _

Ginny snorted. Shows what her mother knew. The sales from this poster alone had made her the most popular player in the Flash, and had gotten her a spot on first string the next year, from sheer fan popularity.

She bent and picked it up, gingerly. It was well-worn and, Ginny glanced at the tape marks on the back, had apparently been through several moves. She stared down at her own face, transfixed.

She'd looked so much younger then! She hadn't laid eyes on this poster in nearly two years, and she could clearly see the difference in herself now and herself back then.

Her cheeks had been a bit rounder than they were now, her hips, she thought jealously, a bit slimmer. And when she was eighteen, she'd never even heard of the name "Harry Potter." But, apparently, he'd heard of her.

He'd been staring at her half-naked body for at least four years, and hadn't said a word about it.

From down the hall, she heard Harry frantically call her name and froze, not sure what to do. She didn't want him to see her with his little secret, but she also wanted to see his face when he saw her holding it.

"Ginny!" He called again, and she was torn. Should she drop the poster and run for the kitchen? Or wait here and see if this was enough to pop the tension that had clung to him for days. She didn't have time to make the decision.

He came running down the hall and stopped short when he saw her, his hand gripping his chest.

"What the hell are you doing? Nearly gave me-"

She didn't get to find out what she'd nearly given him. He'd stopped short and gone completely pale once he'd registered what she was holding. His mouth hung open, and his throat worked soundlessly. They stared at each other, both a bit shocked, before she'd broken the silence.

"When did you get this?" She asked quietly. Maybe she was wrong and he'd bought it recently? But the look on his face negated that thought. He swallowed convulsively, but didn't answer her, which irritated her a bit.

"Have you had this for four years?" She demanded, realizing just how much it pissed her off. She'd been mooning around like some lovesick puppy for weeks, convinced that he could care less about her, and he'd had this stashed in his back room? How dare he act so high and mighty! _Professional_. He'd said. Well, this was a far from professional as he could get.

He cleared his throat trying, in vain, to make his vocal chords work. Ginny glanced back down before looking up to glare at him some more.

"Why is this here? Where have you been keeping it? Where did you get it?" She demanded, suddenly, irrationally, wondering why it was on the floor, and not the wall.

"It's…I just found it." Harry blurted out, turning red.

"Oh, it's not yours, is it? You just happened to find it lying around the weight room? Someone conveniently left it behind one day?"

"No." He said before she could get herself even more worked up. He managed to gather a small amount of control over his voice. "No, it's mine." He said more quietly, embarrassed. She stared at him, clearly expecting more.

"And?" She demanded, looking as if she wanted to set the poster, or him, on fire.

"And…I've had it forever. It's just a poster, a decoration- hey!" He exclaimed when she clenched her fist so tightly that the paper crinkled around her fingers. She relaxed them immediately.

"Oh, just decoration, eh? Funny, you're so protective over _just a poster_."

"I hate when you use my words against me." He snapped at her, stepping forward and reaching a hand out, as if hoping to get the item in question out of her hands. Not likely.

"Well, we've only been speaking for about three days, so I can hardly see how you could jump to such a strong emotion as hate over it." She glared at him, jerking the poster out of his reach.

"It's not my fault that you're ridiculous and infuriating." He glared back, stepping forward again. She stepped back, and felt her spine come into contact with the wall.

"It _is_, actually, your fault. If you wouldn't be watching me all the time-"

"I'm your bodyguard, what else would you have me do?" He growled.

"I think we both know that you're a bit more than that." She said, which froze him in his tracks.

"Do not bring up the-"

"Oh, I'll bring up the Underwear Incident if I damn well want to!" She cut him off, her chest heaving now, her heart pounding in her ribcage. She couldn't remember being this angry in her whole life. All the tension from the past few days seemed to descend on them and crystallize into this one argument.

"That's not my business!" Harry yelled. "In a professional capacity, I have no interest in your panties!"

"Well, then," she said, shoving the poster into his arms and stalking past him, shouldering him out of the way, "In a _professional capacity,_ you won't care that I haven't been wearing any since Saturday!" She screamed back at him, pounding down the hall and slamming the bedroom door behind her.


	11. Chapter 11

_Hey, guys! Sorry, this one might be a bit slow again. It'll pick up next chapter, though, I promise! Thanks, enjoy!_

For the next few days, Harry and Ginny found themselves in an odd parody of their earlier situation, only now _she_ was refusing to speak to _him._

She barely even looked at him and she felt him becoming exceedingly frustrated. _Good._ She thought. _Serves him right._ She was tired of not being the one in charge. Not in charge of her life, her schedule, or even her own mail. This one thing, her voice, she had complete control of.

On Friday, when she was finally allowed to return back to her own apartment, she'd been nervous as she'd walked up the stairs, but refused to show any sign to Harry. She didn't want to show any sign of emotion or weakness, he'd gotten enough emotion out of her to last a lifetime. Her nerves eased suddenly, though, when she saw who was in the chair by her door.

"Seamus!" She was so happy to see him. His was the first face other than Harry's she'd seen in a week. She was quite sick of Harry's face. The man smiled sheepishly and rose to meet her hug.

"Good to see you, Miss Weasley." He told her, but released her quickly. She could only imagine the look that he was getting from Harry.

"Don't mind him, Fin!" She said cheerily, unlocking her door. "He's just cross about some soccer balls." She disappeared inside her apartment, taking in the familiar sight of the muted blue and brown of her living room, the spacious warmth of her kitchen. It was good to be home.

"Cross _because_ of some soccer balls." Harry told her, letting himself in behind her. She ignored him and skipped to the phone, dialing Hermione.

Within the hour, Hermione was perched on one of the bar stools watching Ginny cook, and Harry was slumped moodily against her refrigerator.

"I don't understand, did you fight?" Hermione asked, stealing a carrot from the mixing bowl in front of her. Ginny frowned.

"Yes. And that's all I'll say about it." She stepped to the fridge and unceremoniously yanked it open, hoping to catch Harry off guard. She didn't, and frowned when he simply stepped out of her way, stumble-free.

"It's over something stupid." Harry told Hermione, stepping back against the stainless steel door and elbowing it closed before Ginny was just quite out of its way, causing her to drop the limes.

"It's not stupid, he's stupid!" She fumed, rinsing the limes and reaching into a drawer for her zester.

"I'm sorry." Hermione frowned, at a loss for what to say. "You seem so upset." At this, Ginny scoffed.

"Yes!" She exclaimed dramatically, holding the zester up to her chest. "It's as if a rough, callous hand has started peeling my heart away using only this!" She held up the sharp instrument, "My mother's patented Lime Peeler." Both Harry and Hermione frowned at her.

"Well, if I knew what you'd fought about…" Hermione wheedled, making Harry turn pale. Ginny scowled at him, but turned back to Hermione.

"I don't really want to talk about this anymore." She said reaching for her glass of wine. "I just want to celebrate being home, out of the smallest apartment known to man." She grinned when Hermione picked up her own glass and _clinked_ it with Ginny's.

"Besides," Ginny added. "I'm sure it's not appropriate for us to be talking about this anyways. You know," she raised her eyebrows mockingly at Hermione. "for _professional reasons._"

Harry growled and Hermione looked confused, but Ginny just toasted her again and set down her glass.

The obvious hurdle Ginny had to face in ostracizing Harry was her bedroom. There was no way that she'd stoop as low as going back to the guest room. She'd noticed that Harry'd had his cot placed back in the hall, in hopes of returning to their previous sleeping arrangements.

When Hermione had said her goodbyes, a longer goodbye for Harry than Ginny would have liked, she started down the hall to her bedroom, balking a bit in front of her closed door.

"You're being ridiculous." Harry said behind her. "Just let this go. What you need is to have a nice cup of tea and-"

Ginny yanked open her door and slammed it shut behind her. What she did not need was his patronizing advice.

_Fuck him_. A vicious voice in her head declared. _Let him see how it feels to be kept out of the loop, to be blatantly ignored for weeks while the other person harbors a long-term, secret attachment to them._

Right. She glanced around her room after she'd hurriedly flicked on the lights. She needed a bath. A nice, hot bubble bath to calm her down, and then straight to bed.

Right.

She turned on every light and lamp, lit every candle between the two rooms while her bath filled up. She hadn't been in her own shower, door closed, in weeks. Even while Harry had been gone, she'd used the guest bathroom. Seamus had been very understanding about this.

She jumped when she heard the air conditioner kick on. She breathed and mentally hit herself in the head. _Stupid_.

Her eyes caught on the curtains. They were drawn. She approached them carefully, weighing the pros and cons of opening them to look out, or to keep them closed and not know if there was a psycho killer on her balcony.

She reached her hand out with trembling fingers and on the count of three, flung the curtains back. Nothing.

She sighed and walked back to her bathroom, peeling off her clothes and turning the faucet off. She eyed the bathroom closet as she stepped into the warm bubbles, but decided that the curtains had been enough excitement for now.

By eleven, she'd dawdled enough, and resolutely turned off all of her lights except for the lamp next to her bed.

_Nothing wrong with reading a bit, before bed._ She rationalized, picking up a book she'd been reading on and off for a few weeks. Soon, however, she found herself staring at her closet more than the page in front of her.

Then, her eyes would fly to her dresser, which someone could easily hide behind. Then to the curtains, her bathroom, and back to the closet. When she chanced a peek at the bedskirt, wondering if there was enough room for someone to hide beneath it, she made a disgusted face and threw her book at the door. It landed with a satisfying _thump_, and landed with the pages splayed and bent.

She hadn't even acted this frightened when she was a little girl, and now she was thinking about monsters under her bed? Pathetic. Her thoughts stilled, however, when an answering thump came from the other side of her door.

She stared at it, keeping her face still.

Harry was on the other side. He'd been letting her know that he was, by knocking back on the door. That knowledge was enough to make her creep under her covers and turn the lamp off, before snatching her arm back under the blankets.

She'd sleep a lot more soundly when the crazy stalker was caught.

oOo

Harry stared at her door and considered knocking again, just to see if she'd let him in, or come out.

He restrained himself, instead sliding down the wall and getting comfortable on the hard wood of her hall floor. Sacrificing his own comfort was the least he could do. While keeping the poster from him hadn't exactly been wrong, it certainly felt that way.

They had created a relationship that depended on honesty and trust, and he'd broken that trust. He drew his knees up and felt his tailbone smart and being ground into the floor.

_Suck it up_. He told himself. _She needs you to stay close right now. No cushy bed for you, not for a while. _He settled into his seat, bracing for a hard, uncomfortable night.

The clock in the living room had officially chimed fifteen past two when Ginny's door squeaked open. Harry raised his head from where he'd been examining his hands. Ginny leaned in the doorway, and pursed her lips at him.

"Not a single word, Potter." The warning came out softly, almost like a plea. He pressed his lips shut and she looked at him in silence before stepping out into the hallway, making her way to the living room.

Harry rushed to get up and winced when he heard his joints pop. _You're getting to old for this, Potter_. He thought to himself, wincing as he followed Ginny and tried to pop his back as he walked.

She flipped on the soft, inset lighting and hurled herself into the corner of the couch. She reached for the remote and clicked it on, surfing until she found an old movie, _The Philadelphia Story. _Harry sat down on the armchair beside her.

"This is your favorite movie." He said, looking at her instead of the screen. She kept her eyes forward. "I've never even seen it, and you quote it all the time." He watched as her face flushed and she closed her eyes for a second. When they opened again, she did nothing but press the volume on the remote, turning it up loud enough to fill the silence around them.

The scenes passed by in flickering succession, but Harry had no interest in it. He kept up with the dialogue as much as he could, but kept an eye on Ginny more intently. During a scene involving a massive party, her eyes started to droop, and by the scene set the next morning, she was out like a light.

He stopped pretending to watch the movie, and his eyes flashed to her prone form. She was curled into the couch, resting her head on the arm and hugging a pillow. She looked very vulnerable, which was a word that Harry would never have used to describe Ginny to her face.

He rose and pulled the quilt from the back of the couch over her, making sure her feet were tucked in just the way she liked. He grabbed the remote and turned the volume down to its lowest level, almost to mute, but not quite.

Ginny liked to sleep with white noise, and always had a fan or noise machine running when she slept.

Harry settled back in his chair, thankful to have found a more comfortable spot than her hall to spend the night. He ran his eyes over the little bump she made under the thick blanket. Her mother had made it for her as an apartment-warming gift when she'd moved in here: the first place that she'd bought with her own money.

Harry's head was crowded with these mundane facts about her. Before he'd met her, he would have thought that all these useless bits of trivia were annoying. But Harry enjoyed them, now. They made Ginny a real presence in his life, connecting her to all the little mundane facts about himself.

_And the problem with that_, Harry thought, _is that she doesn't know any of those mundane facts about me. This whole thing is completely one-sided._

He knew what he had to do. It may not have been the best choice, seeing as he would be putting his relationship with the subject before her case, but he'd "be careful" as Kingsley had warned.

Even the handbook said: The number one component of a guard/charge relationship is trust. And if she didn't trust him today, well maybe he could persuade her to trust her a bit tomorrow.

Harry slumped further in his chair, sinking into the soft cushions and letting his eyes close, if only for an hour or two. He felt like he'd been sent through the emotional ringer, from panicked to horny to angry, frustrated to upset with himself, back to horny again.

Now, he felt a quietness settle over him. He allowed himself to consider the option that, maybe in this one case, the charge was more important than the rule book.


	12. Chapter 12

_Hello, there! Thanks so much to all you guys who like my story. I took a little break for the weekend to spend some time with my moms, and then Fanfiction wouldn't let me upload, but now I'm back!_

_Some of you have been saying that my story reminds you of another one that is similar but was never finished. Well, I'm certainly not meaning to copy anyone, and hopefully Against The Odds has taken on it's own personality from the other story, which I'm sure is phenomenal, and I'm sad was never finished. _

_However, dear readers, I __**will**__ finish this story. This is a solemn promise to you. I've been, unfortunately, lax in the past with completing stories, but this one is completely finished in my head. I just have to put it to paper. Please bear with me. Thanks for reading, please review!_

Ginny woke up to the smell of coffee. She groaned and rolled so that her face was pressed into the seam of the couch cushions. Her neck ached and her eyes felt dry.

_That's what you get for not being able to sleep in your own bed_. I little voice mocked her. She tried to block it out by burrowing closer into the cushions. Soon, she'd be apart of the couch, if she kept going at this rate.

"Good, you're awake." Harry's voice was obnoxiously cheery above her. She pulled her head out of the couch and squinted up at him. He smiled down, and behind him the kitchen windows were drawn, letting in an infuriating amount of fresh air.

"I made omelets." He said, still smiling at her. "They were the first thing that I ever learned to cook, my Aunt taught me." He whirled away to stand back over the stove, from which the smell of cheese and garlic was wafting.

Ginny followed him with her eyes, scrunching up the left side of her face. If she had to guess, she'd say that it was about seven. That meant that she had gotten, what? Four hours of sleep? Maybe five? Which meant that he had maybe gotten all of two or three hours.

She wanted to ask him how he was being so chipper, and if he could please stop, but stopped herself at the last second. Instead, she groaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands.

She'd had too many sleepless nights lately, and it was catching up with her. Dropping her hands, she eyed the blanket wrapped around her legs. He must have tucked her in sometime in the night.

"It's ready!" Harry called, and Ginny forced herself to her feet. When she was seated and looked down at her plate, she had to admit that it looked delicious. She reached greedily for the mug set at her place, and gulped down coffee, savoring the rich taste and anticipating the much-needed caffeine buzz.

"I learned to make them when I was about seven, because I was living with my Aunt and uncle, and their son, Dudley." Harry said, pausing to chew a bit of egg. "They didn't really have much use for me, but my Aunt taught me to cook so that I could pay them back for living with them."

Ginny turned to him, shocked over her coffee. What was he talking about? What's this about his family not having any use for him? That was sad, and all, but why couldn't he just let her enjoy her breakfast in peace?

"I know." Harry said, spearing a piece of strawberry with his fork and popping it into his mouth. "They were terrible. When I finally got a scholarship to a boarding school, I took it immediately." He swallowed. "That's the Hog's Head Academy for Boys, in case you were wondering."

Ginny frowned at him, taking a bite of her omelet. She remembered the good, old days, when he didn't talk and she could still look at him without wanting to tear his hair out.

"But then, if we're going to go chronologically, I should probably start with the car crash." He continued, looking up at her expectantly. She refused to meet his gaze. "That would be the car crash that killed my parents around the time I was one."

At this, she finally looked at him. _Well, shit._ She thought. _If he's going to get into the deep stuff, he's forcing my hand, here. I can't just ignore him…_ Ginny sighed, giving up on her food and focusing on the important stuff. The coffee.

Harry's fork was poised above his plate, suspended in expectation. When she had drained her cup, he re-filled it. She sighed, wanting to plunge her head into the hot drink. Instead she looked at him, waving her hand in a _get on with it_ gesture. Harry smirked at her.

"And that's the thing about dead parents. It gets you so much pity and attention. Half the time I don't even want it." Harry said. "Did you know that during the Riddle case, there were six articles on me, focused only on my lack of parents." He squinted at her. "Then, of course, when I want to get someone's attention, it's my go-to."

Ginny didn't respond, but then, she didn't really have to. He just kept on going, as if he were a toy and someone had wound him up. He didn't run out of momentum any time that day.

After the shower, he started in on his Aunt and Uncle, with a few stories about his cousin, Dudley, thrown in. When she'd been truly and thoroughly horrified (Internally, of course. There was no sense in giving everything away when he was just getting started), he'd switched to his years at Hog's Head.

By about that time, she'd figured out what he was doing. She couldn't help herself. She lowered the sports section and gaped at him. He grinned back.

She'd thought that he was just talking this morning to get a reaction out of her, to goad her into talking. But the more he opened up about really personal things, it finally clicked in her head about what he was doing. _Leveling the playing field._

From then on, she started paying more attention. She had to stop herself from laughing when she'd been making lunch when he told her about his on-going war with one of his teachers, Professor Snape. He'd been convinced that Snape had been involved in an illegal drug-smuggling ring.

Harry, along with a few friends, had investigated and spied on Snape for over seven years. It was only a few months before he graduated that Harry learned that Snape was actually an undercover agent, and had been investigating another teacher at the school.

Harry was laughing at himself for most of the story, telling Ginny in painful detail about the lengths they went through to try and corner the man they believed to be a drug lord.

"At graduation, Snape took me aside," Harry chuckled, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "and handed me an entire box of listening devices. There had to be about twenty that we'd planted on him or in his rooms, and every single one was there!" Harry sighed and his face straightened.

"Snape was so good about it, too. He clapped me on the shoulder and said that I'd done a good job. Told me I should consider going into law enforcement. It was his recommendation that got me into academy. God knows, I didn't have the grades for it." Harry looked up at Ginny. "He's the reason I'm here today. He's the one that got me through academy, even when I was making more trouble than I was learning. He was…the officer on the case for my parents' death."

Ginny's eyebrows rose. Well, that was quite a story. Quite a story about quite a man. This Snape was clearly someone that meant a lot to Harry. Ginny felt strangely honored that Harry was telling her this. Is this what Harry had felt all those weeks ago when she'd just talked at him nonstop? She hoped so.

"And then, once I was out of academy and actually started working cases with him…I guess you could say that he's my mentor. Him and his best friend, Sirius. Yes, that's Sirius Black, the lawyer." Harry grinned at her. "He and Snape are hilarious together. We make it a point to get together at a bar at least once a month. I haven't seen them in a while, though." Harry sobered quickly.

"I really miss them. Snape in particular. I just…Sometimes I feel like I need some guidance, and he's the only one that's ever really been there for me, you know. I think you're crazy for not appreciating your family more than you do." Harry held his hands out, halting her scowl. "I know you love them, but I would kill to have that many people to talk to. You're so lucky."

Ginny blinked at him slowly. He was being so…real, candid, uncensored. She could feel the knot of tension in her chest slowly loosen. She'd been so frustrated at him this past week, so sick of him and his superiority. It was nice to see that he was a real person, with flaws and feelings and stuff.

Maybe she'd blown the whole poster debacle out of proportions. She'd just been so angry and frustrated. She'd felt that their relationship was so one-sided, and had been beating herself up for weeks over this attraction she felt for him, only to find that he'd, presumably, felt the same?

Okay, so _some_ reaction had been necessary. But maybe she was taking it too far…

"And then from the academy, I went straight into the FBI's agent training camp. It was the day before I was going to leave, and I had my bags all packed and I was nervous as Hell. I was at Sirius's place, and he, Snape and I were watching a game of Sirius's favorite team, the Western New York Flash."

Ginny's head snapped up from her reverie, and she smiled in spite of herself. It was always good to hear stories about her team, and to know that they had fans.

"Yes, yes. It's very exciting." Harry said, shaking his head at her. "So, we were watching all the game, and the flash is down by, like, three points, and all of the sudden, the striker, Katie, goes down, hard."

Ginny suddenly straightened in her chair, realizing where this was headed. Harry grinned at her and continued.

"And all of the sudden, there's an ambulance and stretchers, and its mayhem. And in the middle of all the chaos, who should be called onto the field?" Harry smirked at her, and Ginny tapped her nose. "That's right, the little, red-headed, second string striker, Ginny Weasley."

Ginny settled back in her seat, enjoying hearing about her first game from someone else's point of view. It had started her career, that game. She'd been the game-changer, and had gotten the Flash through to the finals.

"Needless to say, all three of us were completely entranced. I remember thinking that you'd gone out on the field and just done it, no previous field experience at all, and that if you could go and turn a whole game around in front of millions of people, I could at least go to training and do some drills." Harry said.

"I went out the next day, before my bus to camp, and bought a fairly scandalous poster of the Flash's second string striker." He leveled his gaze at her and she froze, not sure what to expect. "And it hung in my bunk for about two years, and then it moved to my room at command, and I can't find it in my heart to get rid of it."

Ginny was touched. She shook her head at him in amazement, feeling all the fight leave her body. She didn't think that anyone had ever been so honest with her, and Harry was just staring back, unblinking.

"That was a really good story." She whispered. He looked surprised.

"Good enough to talk to me again?"

Ginny shook her head. "It's good enough for an exception to the not talking." She said, wanting to keep him talking. She wanted to know everything about him. It was only fair. And, she got the feeling that he needed to tell her these things.

She turned away from the intensity of him. It wasn't good for a girl to get too wrapped up in a guy. She needed some space, needed him to keep talking about himself. Harry waited a beat, and she felt him follow her with his eyes as she got a glass of water.

"Then, of course, I got to training camp and met my drill sergeant, Moody, and my life was never quite the same…" He smiled and continued on.

By that night, Ginny knew more about Harry than she did about her own family. They were sitting in the living room, lights low, with another movie on, but neither of them were paying attention to it.

Harry was telling her, in horrifying detail, about his time spent on the Riddle case.

"Tom was a textbook psychopath." He said. She was curled up in her favorite spot on the couch, and he was in his usual armchair. "From the beginning of the murders, anyone could see that. He was brutal with the bodies, like he literally didn't have a scrap of human emotion.

"When I was put on the case, there had already been three people killed. Before I caught him, there were another fifteen bodies in the morgue." Harry cleared his throat, obviously getting into some sensitive territory.

"I got so involved in the case. I stopped sleeping, eating. Every time we found a new body, it was like Riddle was baiting me, like it was a personal failure every time he got to someone and I couldn't stop him. Thank you." He said, accepting her own mug of chamomile tea and taking a sip before returning it back to her. When he began talking again, his voice was a little less gravely.

"Snap and Sirius kept telling me not to take it personally, but in that situation, it _is_ personal. I was the lead agent, and it's easy to let the pressure get to you. Before I took you on, I was on a mandated leave of absence from the Bureau, because I'd gotten so wrapped up in the case they were worried about me." Harry sighed and looked at her wearily.

"Which, pretty much leads me to you. And you've been there for all of it, so there's not much to say is there?" He asked. Ginny frowned at him, handing back her mug. He chuckled at her. "Okay, I guess there are some missing pieces there." He finished the tea and sat for a few minutes, rolling the mug between his hands.

"If I'm being perfectly honest…" His eyes dropped to the cup between his fingers. "which is hard to do, because this_ is _the hard part." He swallowed thickly before looking back up at her. "I knew from the very first day that you were different, Ginny. I knew that I was going to have a hard time with this case." Harry sat forward on his chair.

"I crossed the line from day one, ok? And all the time since then has just been me trying to get a hold of myself. No one should have the effect on me that you do, and I'm not sure if it's just that you challenge me, or infuriate me, or the fact that I've been lusting after that goddamned poster for close to five years.

"I don't know, and I know that I should not be saying these things, and I know that I could get in big trouble for saying it, but…I think that I've also gotten in trouble a lot for things that have been worth it."

His eyes bore into hers, and Ginny felt herself growing hot. She didn't think she'd ever felt so vulnerable in her life. Yeah, vulnerable and turned on. The things he was saying to her had a direct effect on her body, and her whole self was tingling. She wanted him to keep talking, but at the same time, she wanted him to shut up and close the last few inches between them and kiss her until she stopped breathing.


	13. Chapter 13

_Okay, ladies and gentlemen! Here's where it gets interesting. Keep the reviews coming! Let me know if I'm doing a good job or if it's just horrifyingly tasteless. Thanks!_

Harry felt horrified with himself, but his adrenaline was up and his heart was beating too loudly for him to care about anything else. No wonder Ginny had found it so easy to just pry open her soul and talk to him for hours at a time. Once you got started, it was hard to stop.

Like what he'd just said to her. He couldn't really regret it. Even as he'd said it, he'd felt the shift between them; a subtle movement of their feelings. It was like a barrier was dropped. Ginny's body was leaning close to his, and her eyes were wide, pupils dilated.

And everything he'd said was true. He should _not_ have been thinking the things he did, let alone saying them out loud. And yet, here he was, saying them. Ginny's eyes flicked to his lips, and he wanted to kiss her so badly, but he wasn't done yet.

"You need to know," He started, his body moving closer to her without his mind's permission. "You need to know that I'm not just saying this so that you'll forgive me, and talk to me again. I don't take these things lightly, I…I don't do this very often.

"And I just need you to know that. But, if you _were_ to forgive me, that would be great." He felt the sudden disconnect of his brain and his mouth. It was a good thing that he'd gotten the important part out before he'd gotten this close to her. Her big, brown eyes were inches away, and her lips were so close that he could feel even the smallest breath that passed between them.

"Because, I really don't want you to be mad at me. Not that forgiveness is the main reason that I decided to just rambled on about my life all day, because it really isn't. I just want-"

Ginny closed the last few centimeters between them and pressed her lips to his, effectively cutting off his mindless babbling. Harry instantly reacted, groaning and pressing harder against her, leaning forward to increase the pressure of their kiss.

He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips, and she opened for him immediately, moaning. He felt the sweet softness of her mouth, and was pretty sure that his eyes had rolled back into his head.

This was heaven, kissing her. Bolts of tingling energy were spearing straight through his body and into his throbbing cock. He shifted his hips on the edge of the chair, trying to release the pressure from his jeans and get closer to her at the same time. A hard jab to his ribs had him pulling back the slightest bit.

The arms of the couch and his chair were getting in his way. Without giving it another thought, he reached forward and gripped her waist, hauling her into his lap to straddle him.

She fit so well against him, melting against his chest and tilting her head, allowing more contact between their lips. Harry sighed and settled into the chair when she nipped his lower lip, sucking it into her mouth and soothing the bite with a flick of her tongue. She released him to kiss her way across his cheek, panting in his ear and getting him harder by pretty much just existing.

"Fuck, you're good at this." He hissed, feeling her teeth scrape across his jugular. His hands wandered up the back of her shirt to feel her satin skin. He'd been craving the feel of it ever since the night of the gala, and having her in his hands again was like a religious experience.

"Ginny." He groaned, bucking his hips when he felt her suck at his neck. He knew it'd leave a mark in the morning, but he _so_ didn't care. He wanted her to mark him. He'd be hers forever if she just kept up that grinding rhythm of her hips against his lap.

He abandoned her skin to reach up and plunge his fingers into her hair, tilting her face back up so he could devour her in a kiss. She made the hottest, helpless noises against him, and he felt her quick little fingers at the hem of his shirt, jerking it up.

He allowed their kiss to break for a fraction of a second to help her push his shirt up off his head. He flung it somewhere into the living room, and settled his hands and lips back on her. He fought a brief, but fierce, inner battle about her own shirt.

He was gripping the soft material in his hands, aching to feel her skin on his, but that would mean another pause in their kiss, which he felt like he'd die without. He made his decision when she whimpered and pressed herself against him, pushing the soft mounds of her breasts against him.

"Shit, Ginny." He whispered against her, tugging the shirt over her head. On the way up, his thumbs hooked into her bra and he pulled it off with the shirt. He didn't have time to stop and unclasp it, he was too busy drowning in her.

They both moaned when her hard nipples pressed into his hot chest. He gripped her hips and jerked her closer, grinding against her and falling deeper into the heat they'd created. She tightened her thighs on him.

"Harry." She whispered, taking a shuddering breath. Hearing her voice reminded him of the entire reason they'd started doing this. All his work at talking and how awful he felt… He licked down her neck, pausing to nibble on her collar bone.

"I'm sorry, Gin. Please…" He trailed off, sucking at the base of her neck and felt her hands plunge into his hair.

"Yes." She said, breathlessly. "Of course…Harry, don't stop…don't…" His head was traveling lower, and he left a stinging kiss on the side of her breast. He lifted his head to look at her, his rough palms cupping her breasts. He felt her nipples against his palms.

"Say my name again." He whispered when her head fell back on her shoulders.

"Harry." She whispered. He bent his head and sucked her nipple into his mouth, laving it with his tongue. "Harry!" She yelled, arching against him, fighting to push deeper into his mouth.

"Shhh." He murmured, releasing her to kiss her again. "Guard's outside." He said against her lips. They were moving together, now. She was riding him frantically, creating a mind-bending rhythm between them. He was painfully hard beneath her, and if he wasn't inside her soon, he was afraid he'd explode.

"Harry, please." She groaned, sucking his earlobe into her mouth and flicking it with her tongue, driving him a little further off the edge of sanity.

He tightened the hands cupped on her ass and stood, lifting her with him. Her long legs immediately wrapped around his waist. Harry stumbled and tripped into the guest bedroom, pleased that he'd even gotten them there, seeing as his attentions weren't on trivial things like balance or breathing.

As soon as her back hit the mattress, Ginny arched up to him, pulling him tighter to her. One hand gripped his hair almost painfully, while the other slid down his flat stomach to the button of his jeans.

"Now." She demanded, and hell if he was going to deny her. Her small hands struggled with his zipper, and she keened into his mouth when his hands all but ripped her jeans off of her.

Harry slid off the bed to his feet. She arched her hips and let him slide her pants off. When they were on the floor, Harry looked at her.

No. Underwear.

She was completely bare, and the light from the hall caught on her gleaming folds. She was wet. His hand reached into his open jeans, finding his dick like steel and pumping once or twice, trying to wrap his mind around what he was about to do.

"Harry." She moaned, writhing on the bed, reaching for him. He shucked his pants off and was on top of her in an instant. Her legs opened for him, and the head of his cock brushed against her entrance, making them both shudder.

"Ginny…" He groaned, pressing his face in her neck as he pushed against her, guiding his throbbing member into her wet folds. He tried to move slowly, but her hands gripped his ass and she let out a loud moan and his hips jerked, burying him fully inside her.

Ginny screamed softly, and he felt her inner muscles milking him, desperately. His hips moved on their own, creating a hot, fast tempo that had them both in ecstasy. Ginny's head was thrown back, digging into the pillows, and her hips were rising to meet him, thrust for thrust.

She was so tight, and her sweet cries and moans were sending him over the edge. His balls were tingling, pulling tight. The need to come was buzzing through his veins and he knew he wouldn't last much longer.

"Come on, Gin." He grunted, reaching down to rub her clit. He was praying fiercely in his head, using monosyllabic, nonsensical words to try and hold off his release. "Ginny." He growled, his voice rough and desperate.

She cried out and arched hard into him. He could feel her contracting around him, squeezing him hard.

"Yes." He shouted, pumping once, twice, then spilling himself into her. His mind went blank as he felt pulse after pulse of his seed pour into her, until his body gave out and he all but collapsed on her.

Her arms tightened around him and their breathing was harsh for long moments. Harry listened to her panting in his ear and closed his eyes.

He'd just had sex with Ginny Weasley, the woman he'd been jerking off to for too long.

He rolled to his side, taking her with him. She lifted her chin, and their lips found each other blindly. As their bodies calmed, so did their kiss, and Ginny sighed against him, curling her head into his chest.

He smiled and looked down at her. Her lips were red and swollen, and she had at least two hickeys that he could see. He ran his hand down her back, cupping her ass and pulling her closer into him.

"Mmm." She hummed in contentment against him, making him smile wider.

"Sleepy?" He asked, his voice gravely. She nodded and burrowed closer into him, their legs tangling together.

Harry felt himself slip into unconsciousness as well, but not before he realized that maybe he'd been fantasizing about the wrong aspect of sex where Ginny was concerned.

She pressed a butterfly-soft kiss into his chest before her breathing evened out. Yes. This contented afterwards was almost, _almost_, as good as being buried inside her.

oOo

Ginny blinked her eyes open to stare at the wall. Behind her, Harry was snoring softly, his breath teasing the hair on her neck.

He had an arm flung over her waist and he was pressed against her from shoulder to hip. He grunted in his sleep and rocked closer to her. She smiled and tried not to jump up and do a little dance around the room.

She contented herself to wriggle her toes as enthusiastically as she could and run her fingers over his arm.

She'd had sex with Harry Potter. Yesterday morning, he'd been public enemy number one and her version of the most infuriating man in the world. _What a difference a day makes!_ She thought, burrowing closer into her pillow.

She inhaled deeply, happy to be able to breath without the horrible tension in her chest. It had been sexual, apparently, all the frustration between them. And now, there was nothing but bliss.

"Go back to sleep." Harry rumbled behind her, pressing his face deeper into her neck. She grinned.

"But it's morning." She whispered, not wanting to disturb their delicate balance of sleep and post-coital harmony.

"Barely."

She paused. "But, I'm awake."

At this, Harry sighed, pulling himself up to kiss her on the cheek and propping his head on her elbow. She scooted to her back so she could look up at him.

"Then go back to sleep." He said, smiling indulgently at her. "We haven't gotten a lot of sleep lately. It should be easy."

She scrunched her nose at him, shaking her head. His hand wandered up her body, caressing her skin and making her toes wriggle a bit more. His feet slid against hers.

"You're feet won't stop moving." He said.

"I'm happy." She replied, raising her neck to steal his lips in a kiss. She could feel his smile as he gave her exaggerated, sloppy kisses, rolling them so that he was on top of her.

"Harry! Harry stop!" She laughed, half-heartedly pushing at his shoulders and tilting her head to free her mouth. "I get it. You're happy, too." She giggled as he pulled away to look down at her. He nodded.

"I'm happy you're speaking to me again." He said seriously.

Ginny gave him a look. He stared back blankly for a second before smacking his forehead in mock realization.

"Oh! You meant the sex!" He nodded dramatically. "Yes, well that was great, too, wasn't it?"

"It was." She murmured, running her foot up his leg. He lowered his head for another kiss, and she felt his body stir against hers. She reached down and gripped his erection.

"Just think," She said as he worked his way down her neck, tickling the love-bites he'd put there last night. "We could have been doing this for _weeks_." She began pumping her hand slowly up and down his shaft, and he groaned, bucking into her.

"Yeah." He gasped, capturing his lips again. "What a waste…" They didn't talk anymore after that.

In the end, Ginny did go back to sleep, and they woke up much later in the day. Harry ran his hands down her body when she stretched, throwing her arms over her head and lengthening her body.

When she turned to Harry, his eyes had taken on a wild glow. He reached over her to the night table and grabbed his glasses. When he put them on, he smiled at her.

"I feel like I should see you in the light. Properly, with my glasses." He peeled the covers back, and she had to keep herself from squirming under his scrutiny.

"Didn't you have contacts on last night?" She asked, watching his eyes follow the curves of her ribcage, feeling his fingertips follow his eyes.

"Mmm." He agreed. "I took them out after you went to sleep. Damn uncomfortable to sleep in…"

Ginny could tell that he was not in the mood for talking. She reached up and pulled his face down to hers, again. She couldn't kiss him enough, it seemed. When they both broke for air, they were grinning.

"Shower." Ginny said, already rolling out of the bed. She heard Harry spring up from the bed and follow her. She squealed when he picked her up and swung her into the shower.

After a rather pleasant shower, they got dressed, which took longer than it should have because as soon as one of them put on a scrap of clothing, the other would become distracted, then the clothes would come off, then they'd have to start all over again.

By breakfast, she had to admit the obvious.

"We're sickeningly infatuated with each other." She told him, watching as he scooted his chair closer to hers and took a bite of their shared omelet. He chewed, considering, before he swallowed.

"Well, in our defense, we both had a lot of pent-up feelings. We're just showing them now, I guess." He shrugged and leaned in to place a kiss on her shoulder. "I don't mind if you don't." He said. She shook her head and leaned in to kiss him more, screw the omelet.

A knock on the door sprung them apart. They might have been sickeningly infatuated with each other, but they hadn't forgotten that they were supposed to keep their relationship professional.

Seamus stuck his head in just as Harry had replaced his chair to its rightful position.

"Morning!" He said cheerfully, completely unsuspecting. They nodded back and murmured greetings from behind their coffee mugs, grinning crazily at each other.

Their smiles froze in place, however, at Seamus's next words:

"There's a Dean Thomas here to see you, Gin. Should I let him in?"


	14. Chapter 14

_Hey, everyone! Thanks for the great reviews, keep 'em coming! I just wanted to let you know that I've come back to the real world, and my real job, so I can't spend my entire days just sitting and writing, but I'll still post regularly (maybe one a day?) until I see this through. _

_Enjoy!_

Harry and Ginny both frowned at the same time. Harry looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She was slowly turning red and avoiding his gaze.

"No." She spat out, focusing hard on the plate in front of her. In the doorway, Seamus flinched as a loud, male voice rang out.

"I heard that! Ginny, I know you're in there. I need to see you. I've been trying to call you for weeks." The man, presumably Dean, sounded genuinely worried and just a bit desperate.

"I can't stand it, Gin. Not after the way we left things." Harry watched as a man tried to force his way around Seamus, peeking around the door. Seamus looked in panic at Harry. His job was to stop people from entering, but Dean was already about half-way in, and in their positions, Seamus would have to have done some serious bodily harm to stop the man.

Harry gave the guard a reassuring nod. If anyone was going to hurt Dean Thomas, it was going to be him.

"The way _you_ left things, Dean!" Ginny hissed, turning a bright crimson and still glaring at a piece of tomato on the edge of their plate. That's right. _Their plate_.

Harry sat back in the chair, folding his arms and making the best of his well-worn guardian's position. He'd practically had whole classes about it at the academy: How to Look As Intimidating As Possible By Just Sitting There 101.

It worked. Dean took a look at him and his eyes widened a fraction before he stepped around Seamus, who was giving him a similar look to Harry's. He crossed the living room and reached for Ginny.

Harry rose suddenly and twisted Dean's arm, pining it behind his back and leveraging their weight so that he smashed Dean into the kitchen table. The cups rattled and Ginny jumped at the suddenness of the action.

"Hey…Hey, I'm sorry. I just need to talk-" Dean wheezed. Harry thought that maybe the breath had gone out of him, but didn't particularly care.

"Talking doesn't involve touching, does it? It's my job to make sure she's safe. Keep your hands off of her."

"Yes! Yes, o-of course." Dean grimaced. Harry tugged, sending an extra ounce of pressure into the guy's shoulder socket. Just a bit more and he could dislocate the whole damn arm…

He let Dean go, pushing him slightly away from Ginny, who was gaping at them both. Dean rubbed his shoulder and looked down at her, a pitiful look on his face.

"Gin-"

"Don't!" She said, standing and tearing her eyes away from Harry to glare at Dean. "I don't want to hear it! What you-" She broke off, eyeing Harry. He was pretty sure that he looked like he was about to murder her ex-boyfriend, and he had a sneaking suspicion that he wouldn't have even needed a class to do it. This one was pure instinct.

"Can we…" Dean cleared his throat, standing up straighter. "We need privacy." He told Harry, who said nothing and kept his face still.

"He's not leaving. He can't. That's his job, Dean. He's a bodyguard?" She sneered at him. "Maybe you haven't been paying attention to the media, but I have some things going on right now."

"I have been! Ginny, I've been so worried-"

"Yes! So worried!" She turned to Harry, sarcastically serious. "He's been so worried that he waited over a month after the threats kept coming to check up on me! I'm so lucky, to have such a valiant white knight at my side." She picked up the plate and crossed the kitchen, shoving it in the sink.

Harry had to step in front of Dean when he tried to get to her, and the idiot went pale and stepped back hurriedly. Harry had to resist the urge to sneer at him. He didn't know what this guy had done to Ginny, but she was hurt by it. As her bodyguard, he was paid to prevent her pain.

Harry had half a mind to reach over and _really_ break his arm.

"There's no need to take that _tone_, Ginny. You know I care for-"

"You don't 'care for' me, Dean! You left me for no reason!" She snarled, nearly baring her teeth at him.

"It was surprising news, Ginny! When I found out what you did to-"

"Shut up!" Ginny shrieked, pounding her fists on the counter. "It didn't happen! Why don't you believe me?"

"Well, it's not as if your track record doesn't show me everything I need to know. You use sex to get everything else, why not a top spot on your team? Why not your position at the magazine?"

Harry slid to the left, slightly, to avoid the spatula that Ginny had just thrown. Dean, unfortunately, managed to avoid it to.

"But that's not what I'm here about, Ginny!" He said, his hands in front of him, braced for another attack. "I…I can forgive your past. I've missed you so much and…I can overlook what you did before we met." He looked at her seriously.

Harry had a pretty clear idea of what the two were talking about, and felt like he should throw something of his own.

"You…you can _forgive_ my _past_?" She asked, her voice going eerily calm. Dean nodded, lowering his hands.

"Yes. For you, Ginny. Anything for you." He looked hopeful, and Harry almost felt sorry for him. Almost. He clearly didn't know Ginny very well. Harry could have told Dean that this was not going to fly, but he figured the idiot would figure it out on his own pretty soon.

"Get out." She said, darkly. _There it is_. Harry could feel her seething behind him, but kept his eyes on the idiot, who blinked. Like an idiot.

"But-"

"Harry. Please, get him out." She didn't have to ask twice. Harry stepped forward and grabbed Dean around his shoulders, putting extra pressure on the one he'd already injured. Dean's face contorted and he seethed.

"You have no idea what you're doing, Ginny! Do you even know who I work for? The contacts I have-"

Harry had reached the door, opened it, and unceremoniously thrust Dean through it, shoving hard enough that the idiot tripped down several stairs before catching himself on the banister. He sneered back at both him and Seamus, who was standing next to Harry, arms crossed.

"Ha!" Dean scoffed. "She's already got you wrapped around her little fucking finger. She's probably already seduced you both. You know what? Fine. She can have her sick little games. I'm done. But before you both just hand over whatever she wants, ask her how she got first string on her precious little team." Dean sneered and turned to walk down the stairs.

"Ask her what she did with Draco Malfoy that just made him _so_ _eager_ to put her in a starting position." He yelled over his shoulder. Harry and Seamus held their ground as he disappeared down the steps. The both relaxed when they heard the door to the apartment complex slam closed. Seamus spoke up.

"I don't feel particularly seduced by Miss Weasley." He told Harry, still glaring after Dean. Harry shook his head.

"No." He agreed, because even though _he_ had been seduced by Miss Weasley, Seamus hadn't, and they could agree on that fact. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked after Dean as well, less fiercely, and more musingly. He was turning Dean's comments over in his head, one by one. All the things he'd said inside the apartment and out.

Seamus cleared his throat, looking at Harry sheepishly.

"I might be a bit wrapped around her finger, though." He said, softly, and Harry understood. It was just how Ginny was. He clapped Seamus on the shoulder.

"Then, that would make both of us." Harry said seriously. Then, just because he had to make sure, "How's Lavender?" He felt some small relief when Seamus blushed and broke into a boyish grin.

Yeah, this kid's heart lay elsewhere.

"I've been thinking about asking her to move in with me." He admitted, shrugging, but obviously pleased. Harry grinned.

"You should. Never let a girl like that get away." He said, taking his hand off the younger man's shoulder. He turned to move back into the apartment, but was stopped by Seamus's soft voice.

"Agent Potter?" He asked, "Do you think that Dean might be the…" He tilted his head towards Ginny's door. Harry understood.

"Dean's not our stalker." He told Seamus grimly. "Whoever it is, their name starts with an 'M'." He nodded to the guard and slid inside the door, locking it behind him.

Ginny was sitting at the table, scowling down at the patterns in the wood.

"I suppose you'll leave now, too?" She asked, angrily. "Now that you know what a whore I am?" her frown deepened. She looked up, surprised, when Harry gave a little laugh.

"It's going to take a little more than some ancient history to get rid of me, babe. I think I'll stick this one out." He assured her, plopping into the chair beside her and reaching his hand out to rub the back of her neck.

He smiled, grateful that he was able to touch her like this, speak to her candidly, even if it was all taboo in a professional sense. He brushed his thumb across the fine, light hairs behind her ear and watched her shiver, enjoying being able to get the reaction out of her. He'd been hiding behind professionalism too long.

"So…You don't believe him? He was saying that I'd slept with-"

"Yeah, I know what he was saying, Gin." He looked dryly at her. "And that's clearly the first thing that I think when I think of you: huge, opportunistic slut."

She smacked his chest, but there was no power behind it. He caught her hand and pulled her to him, into his lap.

"If he really thinks that you'd sleep with Draco Malfoy to get ahead, then he doesn't know you very well." He said simply, holding her gaze.

She looked very happy, suddenly, and just a tad emotional, and smiled gently at him.

"You like me." She accused.

"I am guilty of that, yes."

"You like me, and you got very angry at him."

Harry paused, watching as a sparkle reached into her eyes. "Yes." He said, lowering his voice to a "that's the end of this discussion" pitch. But when had Ginny _ever_ listened to him?

"You got _very _angry!" She said again. "You growled at him and almost snapped his arm off." She was smirking at him, playing, but Harry grew serious.

"Gin, if anyone was trying to hurt you, I'd do a hell of a lot more than just snap their arm off." He reached up to brush a lock of hair away from her face. "That goes beyond physical hurt, as well."

Her smile softened as she leaned in to kiss him. Harry let himself relax into the chair and just feel her. This had been such a bizarre morning. From waking up next to her, to having her in his arms, moaning. Then her ex had shown up, and now they were back to the _in his arms, moaning_ part, which he didn't mind one bit.

She pulled back, slowly, and blinked her eyes open.

"You don't know how many guys I've lost just because of what they think I've done." She whispered, and for a second, he could see the hurt flicker across her face. How many years of lost relationships had she endured because of rumors and fodder for the tabloids?

"Pictures and papers can lie, Gin. I saw the article on you and Colin. It wasn't true." He ran his hands down her back, comforting as best he could and wishing he could make up all the idiots that had left her before. She smiled and nodded, kissing him once more before sliding off his lap to turn on the sink and rinse their plate.

"I heard you say to Seamus, the stalker's name starts with an 'm'?" She asked, frowning at the sink and reaching for a dirty pan.

"Mmm." He agreed, taking a sip of coffee, frowning when it was cold. "In the letters, when he uses the word "me", he always capitalizes it. It implies a sense of habit when writing of the letter M, especially in conjunction with personal pronouns and identification words." He rose to refill his cup.

"When did the labs come back?" She asked, pulling the scrubber from behind a mug in the sink.

"What labs?" He asked, coming behind her to wrap an arm around her waist, using the other arm to drink his coffee.

"The labs from the letters. The handwriting." She said, leaning into him and tilting her neck to give him access.

"There were no labs." He murmured, kissing her neck obligingly and wondering why she was so interested in pointless conversations about made-up lab results when they could be doing other _more interesting_ things. She shut off the water and turned her body to face him.

"Then how do you know about the M thing?" She asked, frowning. He frowned back.

"I can read, can't I?" He set his mug down on the counter behind her.

"You mean you just…made that assumption by just looking at the letters?" She sounded incredulous, which kind of offended him.

"Not assumptions, observations." He corrected, trying to kiss her and frowning deeper when she pulled back.

"You…you just looked at it and could figure out the first letter of the guy's name?" She sounded disbelieving, still. He sighed.

"Yes, Ginny. I've had training. Criminal profiler and all that."

She shook her head at him and he watched a grin slowly spread across his face.

"You really are good at everything aren't you?" She asked, allowing him to pull her in, this time. He nuzzled her neck and kissed up to her lips.

"Everything." He agreed, sweeping her up in his arms and heading towards the bedroom.


	15. Chapter 15

_Hey everybody! Clearly, I was a little over-ambitious with the whole "one chapter a day" business. I sincerely apologize! I would like to reiterate my promise, however, that I __**will**__ finish this story. So don't even worry about that. _

_On a related note, I'm not sure exactly how many "lemons" to put into the story, any thoughts on that? Please let me know your thoughts. Keep the thoughts and comments, thanks for the support, guys! Enjoy._

"Ginny."

"Mmmm."

"Gin wake up."

"Rrrremmmm… ARGH!" Ginny yelped as Harry's hand reached out and pushed her gently, rocking her perilously close to the edge of the bed.

"Phone, Gin." He mumbled, burying his face into the pillow.

"You do it." She grumbled, attempting to settle back into her previous position, using his shoulder as a pillow. He swatted blindly at her, forcing her to open her eyes and glare at him.

"Hate you." She yawned, reaching out and grabbed the phone on the bedside table, which had woken Harry up with its buzzing.

"'lo?" She answered groggily, slamming her hand over the alarm clock and turning it to face her. She rolled her eyes.

"Ginny, dear. It's your mother."

"I know, mum. You're the only one on the planet awake at five o clock." She replied, flopping onto her back and closing her eyes.

"That's just silly, dear. You're awake, as well, now." Molly replied then continued, ignoring Ginny's snort. "We're getting together tonight, darling, and we haven't seen you in so long! Please come. Oh, and bring Harry!"

"I don't have a choice, mom. He's my bodyguard." A smile tugged at Ginny's mouth as the bodyguard in question reached out to pull her closer into him.

"So you'll be there! Excellent. And tell Harry that I'm making that tart he loved so much last time."

"I will, mom. No worries. Good luck on the show today."

"Oh, thank you. Goodbye, darling. And for goodness sakes, get up! The day's already started."

Mrs. Weasley hung up before Ginny could tell her mother that the only thing that had started was Molly Weasley. Ginny threw her phone towards the foot of the bed, wanting to go back to sleep, but knowing it was impossible, now.

She hadn't worked out in a few days. And no, what she'd been doing with Harry didn't count. She turned her head to look at him.

He was laying on his stomach, his muscled arm thrown carelessly over her. Without his glasses, and his hair slightly mussed, and the scant morning light coming in through the curtains, he actually looked innocent. _Almost vulnerable. _Ginny thought.

She rolled onto her side so that she was facing her. He grunted, her movement waking him back up. Nonetheless, he tightened his hold on her. She ran her hands up his arm and began to drum her fingers on it, keeping her eyes on his face. After a few moments, he frowned.

"Sleep, Ginny."

"I'm awake. Sorry." She said, unapologetically. He sighed but kept his eyes closed. Ginny waited a few more seconds for him to say something, or wake up, but he didn't.

"You're not being very vigilant." She complained, moving her hand up to trace his shoulders. "What if there's a murderous stalker in the room, and he's about to kill me?"

"There's not." He replied, eyes still shut.

"Well, if there were, we'd already both be dead by now." She said. "I'm going to go work out." Harry frowned and finally opened his eyes.

"Fine. Hand me get my glasses." He said, sounding resigned.

"You don't have to come with me…" She said, unconvincingly, knowing full well that he'd want to be in the same room as her. She reached back towards the table and turned back to give him his glasses. He put them on and yawned at her, turning on his side to face her, as well, and scrubbing a hand over his face.

"Hi." She said when he'd finally dropped his hand. He rolled his eyes at her and pulled her even closer, so that she was plastered against him.

"Morning. Are we going to your parents' later?" He yawned again.

"Did you hear that? I thought you were asleep." She said, running her fingers through his hair and lightly scratching his scalp.

"Mmm." He said, enjoying her ministrations. "I'm a bit more vigilant than you think, eh?" He asked. She smiled and reached up to kiss his jaw.

"Indeed." She slid out of the bed.

By the time they'd made it into work, Ginny was feeling so much better about herself. _You don't realize how much you miss your workouts till you get back to them._ She mused, nodding to some co-workers and opening the door to her office.

Only to come face to face with Colin, her boss.

"What are you…?" Ginny asked as Harry pushed in front of her to survey the room for more people. There was one: Colin's wife.

"Romilda." She said, barely able to keep the sneer out of her voice. The insufferable woman was perched behind her desk, holding one of Ginny's pens and writing on Ginny's stationary. Colin, at least, had the decency to look a little ashamed, where as Romilda was smirking smugly at Ginny.

"You're back." Colin said, stating the obvious. Ginny turned her gaze to him.

"Yes, Colin. I'm back. And I didn't realize that the moment I left, you'd be handing my office over to someone else." She could feel herself growing red as anger rushed through her.

"Technically, you were gone for over a week. I had some extra room, and you know that she's always-"

"Wanted to be a writer, sure. Colin." Ginny finished for him. She glared at the nuisance and slammed her purse down on the desk, scattering post-its and pens as Romilda gasped.

"Well, there's no need to be _rude_!" she scoffed, pretending offense. Colin reached to, wisely, usher his wife out of the office.

"Well, there's no need for a _temp_ to be using my office! The office I earned with my hard work as a real journalist!" Ginny snapped at the closing door, which effectively cut off Romilda's retort. Ginny sank down into her desk chair with a frustrated sigh and began clearing the woman's mess off of her work space.

"I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that Colin wanted to replace me with his shrew of a wife! But even he's said himself that he doesn't hold out much hope for her writing. Which is a shame, really, seeing as everybody knows she only married him for his connections… What?"

Harry was standing by the door eyeing her, arms crossed. She looked expectantly at him.

"When did you get this office?" He asked. Ginny squinted at him.

"Last year? What's that got to-"

"So it didn't come with your job?" Harry asked.

"No. I started out in a cubicle out on the floor. It was tiny. I only had a plant." She informed him loftily. "It was one of the prettiest orchids I've ever seen. My mother gave it to me as a cubicle-warming present."

"What happened to it?" Harry asked her, giving up his stance at the door and crossing to his normal seat behind her desk.

"The flower?" Ginny had already begun to sort through the pile of mail she'd found stuffed into a drawer, and was re-booting her computer. "Mmm. Well the lovely _Mrs. Creevy," _Ginny sneered acidly at the door Romilda had just exited, "was supposed to water it while I was on vacation celebrating my promotion. She let it die. Once I moved offices, I didn't really need decorations."

Ginny's voice trailed off while she was reading her e-mails, effectively cutting off conversation.

oOo

Harry tried not to wince as Ginny cranked up the volume, again, on the radio. He ran his thumbs absently over the rich leather of his steering wheel and tried not to remember how much he'd spent on the sub-woofers only to have her blow them out.

"The sound is incredible!" Ginny had to yell over whatever pounding rap she had blasting through his poor baby. She looked wild. She'd rolled the windows down, and the wind was whipping through her hair, the long red locks playing peek-aboo with the small amount of cleavage her cotton dress showed.

She looked like the perfect bad-boy fantasy. Perfect for his car, his life…_him_? Harry shook his head slightly and felt bass thump through his body, distracting him. It _was_ a great sound.

_I paid enough for it to be._ Harry mused, turning into The Burrow and automatically reaching to turn down the music. Ginny squinted and pouted at him.

"I was listening to that." She told him.

"You still are, only now it's at a level of decibels that won't explode your eardrums." He replied.

"Sleeping with you is getting me nothing, nada. I can't drive your car, I can't touch the radio-"

"First, no one gets to drive my car but me. That was an established rule way before you came along. Second," Harry slid smoothly behind Ron's car and shifted into park before looking at her, "You can feel free to touch whatever you want, but once we drive into residential areas, there are laws that control noise pollution."

"Such a cop." Ginny muttered.

"And third, I'd like to point our that sleeping with me_ is_ actually getting you something, and that would be…_the chance to sleep with me._" Harry's voice lowered an octave, making Ginny shiver.

"Well, there is that…" She smiled at him, leaning over the console for a kiss. Harry, of course, gave in and gave himself over to kissing her. He groaned when her hands ran up his thigh, resting lightly just…so…close…

"Hey, there."

Harry jerked back into his seat, turning his head to look out his window that his neck cracked.

"Ow." He muttered, sheepishly looking up at Ron and Hermione, who were standing together next to his car.

"Hi." Ginny tried to sound bright as she opened her door and slid out, but Harry caught the smallest bit of strain in her voice.

_Well, it's not like either of you are thrilled to be caught making out in her parents' driveway by her brother._ Harry chided himself, slowly stepping out of the car as well. Ron was staring at him, head cocked and eyes squinted. Hermione was next to him and she looked like she was trying to keep a smile off her face.

"Ginny, would you help me with some books I brought for your dad?" She asked, a definite smirk creeping into her voice. The girls gathered the books and walked into the house, leaving Harry and Ron looking at each other.

"So, you and my sister." Ron said. It was not a question. Harry felt himself blush crimson.

"It's not like we planned or any-"

"I get it, ok? It just happened. I get that." He chuckled and broke Harry's gaze to flicker his eyes at the house where his wife had just disappeared. "The family is not going to know a thing about this." Ron warned, his eyes back on Harry and his voice hard.

"Ok? They can't know. You're lucky I'm her favorite and would never tell." Ron said, making Harry smile weakly. Ron looked at him consideringly for a moment longer before nodding.

"Alright. Here's the thing. I like you enough not to beat you up and give you the whole "big brother" speech, ok? Relax." Ron clapped Harry on the shoulder, making him wince voluntarily and making Ron laugh. "Just don't hurt her and be safe, ok? Otherwise…" Ron trailed off and gave Harry a serious, horrifyingly menacing look. Harry suddenly had no doubts that Ron had started out in the force. He swallowed hard.

"Well, I'm not planning to." He said. "The first part, I mean. The second, I mean… she's…protected?"

"AND that's our cue to stop talking and walk inside and pretend this never happened and that I don't know anything." Ron said suddenly, saving Harry the embarrassment of having to talk on the subject anymore.

"Did you see the Bulls game?" He asked weakly as they walked into the house. Ron gladly picked up the new conversation.

"Harry, dear! And Ron." Mrs. Weasley looked up from a mixing bowl and beamed. "It's so good to see you. Oh." She fussed when Ron came over to kiss her cheek, stealing a cherry out of the bowl as he did so. "Everyone's outside." She told them, tugging on a pair of oven mitts a second before the oven timer went off.

"I swear, it's a gift. She's practically magic in the kitchen. Psychic or something." Ron told Harry as they walked to the Weasley's back patio. Everyone was, indeed, outside.

A few of the wives and girlfriends, including Hermione who was pouring over a thick tome with Mr. Weasley, were seated at a long picnic table. The rest of the family, however…

"Whoa." Harry said, pleasantly impressed. Ron grinned.

"Great, isn't it? Dad had it built when we were younger and started playing, and then when Ginny went pro, it just made sense to have." He stepped off the patio into the Weasley's yard, which was set up with the correct dimensions, lines and goals of a professional soccer field.

Harry settled down to watch as Ginny stole the ball from Bill and dribble it down the field, kicking it and barely shooting it past Ron, who was in the goal. Three or four brothers threw their hands up and shouted.

"Harry!" one of the twins called to him. He had been sitting on the steps of the patio, but stood quickly when he saw the soccer ball hurtling towards the deck. Aligning himself with the ball, he hopped and allowed it to bounce off his chest, falling harmlessly to the ground.

Harry looked up to whichever twin had delivered the wayward shot, and kicked it to him. The whole yard watched when the ball sailed smooth and straight, bouncing and then coming to rest gently directly at Fred (or George)'s feet. The game continued after some whistles and cat-calls in Harry's direction, but Ginny planted her hands on her hips and looked at him.

"Did I know you played?" she asked. Harry shrugged and she scrunched her nose at him before holding up a hand up. She darted quickly and stole the ball from under Angelina's feet, and sent it whizzing to Harry.

"Hey!" Angelina said but Ginny shrugged.

"We have uneven teams. I wanna see what he can do. Unless, that was a lucky shot." She goaded him. Her brothers 'ooooh'd and clapped at him. Harry kept Ginny's gaze and used his toe to flip the ball easily into the air in front of him.

He watched the ball and began to bounce it from knee to knee before finally rearing back and rocketing it to the other side of the field. The boys clapped and Ginny cocked her head.

"I was captain of my team at Hog's Head." Harry shrugged, walking out to her where she was in the field.

"Well, sure. Because that's something that never would have come up in normal conversation before now. Ya know, with me having _played professionally_!" She mock yelled at him, but it was determined that he would play for Charlie's team, and they wasted at least another hour out on the field before piling onto the picnic table for dinner.

"You're actually pretty good." Ron told him around a mouthful of potatoes. Harry grinned when Hermione elbowed her husband. "Manners." She told him absently before turning back to her discussion with Bill.

"I didn't realize how much I missed it." Harry confessed, taking a sip of juice. "Aside from the odd pick-up game at academy, there's not much free time for it. Especially in my line of work."

Ron nodded.

"How's that going, by the way?" He asked, lowering his voice and pointing his chin at Ginny, who was further down the table. Harry sighed.

"It's rough. She's perfectly fine, of course, safety-wise, because we're taking some serious precautions, but it's almost like as soon as I came along, the threats got more frequent and more violent." Harry decided not the tell Ron that the violent mail was coming in every day now, and some had begun to have some seriously deranged messages.

"Do you have many leads?" Ron asked, spearing some broccoli with his fork.

"Not as much as I'd like. Right now, we're basically down to a handful of people that don't exactly match up. We're missing something Their name starts with an 'M', they live in the downtown area of Manhattan, and they've made a recent doll purchase at FAO Schwartz. But that doesn't really narrow it down."

Ron nodded slowly, then checked around them to see if anyone was paying attention to them. He leaned in and spoke softly.

"I used some old connections to go over her file a few days ago." He said. "I noticed that there wasn't anything in there about one of her old boyfriends, Michael Corner. He's in Manhattan now, from what I hear. And I know that he and Gin didn't part on friendly terms."

Harry sat back in his chair, watching as Ron went to town on another chicken wing. Why had that information been missing from her initial file? Everything from her social security number to her favorite foods were in there. Harry looked down the table at her. She caught his eye and smiled dazzlingly at him.

_Either someone at headquarters doesn't want me to know about Michael Corner,_ he thought, _or she doesn't._


	16. Chapter 16

_Hello! I'm so sorry that it's taken so long to get this next chapter out! My life has been thrown into craziness lately. _

_Thank you so much to everyone who's reading this for all the support and love and *__**hint hint**__* reviews. I know I've been gone for a while, but now I'm__ back, and we're over ¾ of the way through! Hope you enjoy the next chapter!_

Harry was silent as he maneuvered the car down the driveway and back onto the interstate. Ginny was tired and full and sat slumped in the passenger seat, staring sleepily out the window. Harry sighed.

_Aren't we just the perfect couple?_ He thought sarcastically. _I'm thinking that she's committed a Federal offense, she might be hiding some fraudulent file tampering, and all I can think about is getting her in bed. _He snorted as he turned onto the interstate, causing Ginny's head to swing towards him.

"Mmm?" She grunted at him and he had to work to keep his eyes off of where her skirt had ridden up on her leg.

"I was talking to Ron tonight." He began, not sure where to go after that. Ginny grinned at him.

"You two are so cute. Best friends forever and all that." She smirked and turned back to the window. "What did you talk about?"

"You. And your ex-boyfriend."

"Which one?" She snorted, somewhat sarcastically. Harry grimaced.

"What can you tell me about Michael Corner?" He asked, noncommittally. Ginny hummed in thought.

"Well, he went to school with me. He was my first "real" boyfriend. We didn't really have the best break-up…But you already know all this?" She asked him, swinging back around to look at him. He paused again.

"Do I?"

Ginny's brow snapped into a frown and she cocked her head to the side. "I guessed so. Isn't it all in my file? You probably know more about him than I do. Why?"

"Because he's missing from the file and I…I don't know why that information would be missing. Do you?" He slanted a look at her and she looked puzzled.

"Are you asking as my boyfriend or my bodyguard?"

"What?" Harry shook his head. What did that mean? Ginny scoffed.

"Which one? Are you asking as my boyfriend, or my bodyguard? Are you jealous and want to know about my past relationships? Or are you investigating me for file tampering?" She crossed her arms over her chest, scowling.

"I…I'm sorry. This was bound to get complicated eventually. I don't _think_ you did it…" Harry trailed off, trying to sound as supportive as possible while semi-accusing her of committing a felony. He swung his car into his usual parking spot at her building and slipped it into park before turning off the engine. He had to keep himself from toying with the keys nervously.

"Listen, Gin. Someone took that information out of your file, and I need to know why. If this guy has anything to do with whoever's been stalking you, I need to know. If there's any chance that you know why he's not in your file, I need you to tell me." He peeked at her and saw that she was staring out the windshield with her arms still crossed.

"I didn't do it." She turned to look at him squarely. "He was an assistant on my soccer team in college. We broke up when I started talking about quitting the team because he started picking fights about me using my fame to launch my career. As if I hadn't earned my journalism degree all by myself." She sighed and uncrossed her arms. "We lost track of each other when we split. We weren't…It wasn't a good ending. It was pretty nasty, actually."

Harry pursed his lips. Well, he could check her information once he tracked down the missing pages from her file, but she had been pretty willing to share, so clearly she didn't have a reason to hide anything. He ran his hands through his hair, making a list of all the things he'd have to do tomorrow. _First, I'll have to call Kingsley. Maybe I can get a trustworthy officer to look for the file. Seamus? Longbottom? Maybe…_ His mind spun for a few moments until he felt her hand on his leg.

"What?" He asked, realizing that she'd asked him a question. She smiled at him.

"I asked if my interrogation was over. Am I off the suspect list or are you going to break out the handcuffs?" She smirked at him when he grinned wickedly back at her.

"Handcuffs? I didn't know that was an option…"

She laughed at him and got out of the car. He watched her hips as she sauntered around his car, headed towards the door to the stairs. He jumped out and followed her quickly. When he caught up to her, he grabbed her wrist and spun her around, pressing her against the wall next to the door.

"Handcuffs?" He asked again, taking her other wrist and holding the two together, restraining her. "I can do handcuffs." Ginny laughed lightly, not trying to regain control of her hands.

"You're being dirty." She smiled, tilting her head to press against him in a scorching kiss. He made a noise in his throat as her tongue flicked into his mouth. Her leg moved against him, pressing his erection into her thigh. She groaned when he reached down to slide her skirt up, exposing more and more of her skin to him.

"I like being dirty." He murmured against her mouth, grinding more insistently against her. "With you." He kissed down her jaw and she tilted her head back. He stopped to nibble the spot right above her pulse that always made her shiver. She grinned and as goose-bumps broke out across her skin, he made a quick move so that her wrists were gathered at her back, pressed between her and the wall.

"You have the right to remain silent…" He growled into her throat. She laughed and her voice sounded husky and turned him on just that much more. He wanted to devour her against this wall in the middle of the parking garage. His hand clenched in her skirt, and he licked across her shoulder. She made a keening noise and writhed against him, sending his head up so he could kiss her again.

"We can't do this here." She whispered, but still struggled to get closer to him in between nips and kisses. Harry said something that sounded like gibberish and was weighing the pros and cons of releasing her hands and lifting her to him when they heard the door beside them squeak open.

They sprang apart and Ginny pushed herself off the wall, turning her face away so that she could fix her smeared lipstick. Harry jumped to grab the door, opening it more, pretending that he'd been just about to open it himself, while also hiding his tented pants from whoever came through.

It was Dawlish. Harry nodded at him, smiling.

"Shift change?" He asked, watching as the man's eyes flicked between him and Ginny, who was fluffing her hair and looking for all the world like she'd just gotten out of the car. God bless her. Apparently, it worked, because Dawlish simply nodded back.

"Finnegan's up there. He's in a mood, though. I tried to ask but he said it was something with his girlfriend and didn't say anymore."

"Poor Seamus!" Ginny said, brushing past them to jog up the stairs. Harry saw the beginnings of a love-bite forming on her neck. If Dawlish did, too, he was being awfully tight-lipped about it. He just nodded again.

"Night, Agent Potter." He said before turning and crunching across the parking lot to his car. Harry nodded back and practically flung himself inside the stairwell. He took the steps slowly, allowing his body time to cool down before he had to face another officer.

_That was too close._ He thought. He'd gotten too cocky. Their relationship was still strictly forbidden and he'd been about to strip her down and have his way with her in the middle of a _parking garage!_ He'd been raised better than that. _Well, not raised, but taught better, at least. _

He climbed the last flight of stairs and remembered his conversation with Kingsley. "Be careful." His captain had said. Well, that had been anything but careful.

He reached Ginny's door and only had to take one look at the miserable, dejected Finnegan to know that he didn't want to talk. He knew that if he'd had a fight with lavender, he'd want anything to take his mind off of it.

"Finnegan I need you to run the name Michael Corner for me. He's missing from Ginny's file." Seamus nodded glumly and pulled out his phone, but otherwise didn't respond to him.

Harry clapped the guy on the back as he entered Ginny's apartment. She was studying her reflection in the living room mirror.

"I don't think I look too bad." She said, looking at him in the mirror as he locked the door. "Do you think that Dawlish-"

"No." Harry assured her. The officer had barely reacted to them during their encounter. "But he almost got an eyeful." He said, crossing behind her to wrap his arms around her and look at their reflection in the mirror. She smirked at him.

"But I don't look _too_ ravished, so I'm sure we're fine." She told him. His eyes narrowed.

"Don't look too ravished, huh? Would you like me to help you with that?" His hands spanned her waist and he turned her around suddenly. She gasped when he lifted her and walked a few steps to set her down on the kitchen table. He jerked her thighs apart and stepped between them. She leaned forward and kissed him. He nipped her lower lip, then soothed it with his tongue.

She smiled against him and lifted her leg to wrap around his hip. His cock was hard again, and they both groaned when it came in contact with the heat between her legs.

"Harry…" She sighed, rocking softly against him.

"Shhh. I'm ravishing you." He whispered, jerking the straps of her dress down to reveal her bra, which he quickly removed. He returned to her lips and slid his tongue against hers as she writhed and her quick fingers unbuttoned his shirt. He shrugged out of it and hauled her against him so he could feel her tight nipples against his skin.

"More." Ginny said, kissing his neck and reaching for his belt. He pushed her hands away and stepped back. She made a sharp sound of protest and reached for him, but he was too quick and dropped to his knees in front of her.

"What are you…?" She started breathlessly, trailing off when he began to lick his way up the inside of her thigh.

"I'm ravishing you." He said again, flipping her skirt up and frowning. "Why is this the one time I don't want you to wear underwear and you do?" He asked, sliding them off her legs.

She jumped and squealed when he leaned forward and pressed an open mouthed kiss against her.

"Shhh." He reminded her, licking her folds. His hands came up to her knees and he pressed her legs more apart, giving him greater access to her. He felt her lay back fully on the table and she opened her legs easily. He settled into a more comfortable position on his knees and got to work.

oOo

Ginny flopped down on her back and tried to remember to breathe. She could feel Harry's hot mouth pressed against her pussy, his tongue flicking her clit and his stubble rasping against her thighs. She moaned and arched into him, trying to get him closer. She needed his mouth right…there…

His hands were rough as they pinned her hips down. He paused in his ministrations, and she could feel his breath on her.

"Stay still for me, Gin." He said, and her inner muscled clenched at his low voice. His tongue circled her entrance slowly, so excruciatingly slowly. She growled reached down to grip his hair, trying to pull him closer. He laughed against her and the vibrations made her voice catch in her throat.

She cried out when she felt him push a finger inside her, and she swore she saw stars when he pulled back and added another. Between his tongue and his pumping hand, she went wild, finally breaking free of his hold and rocking her hips with the rhythm he set.

Her muscles clenched again, harder this time as he sent her rocketing into an orgasm. He surged to his feet and slammed his mouth into hers and she realized that she'd been chanting his name over and over. She was still contracting around his fingers when he removed them suddenly, and replaced them with his cock.

She had to bite her lip to keep from screaming again. His hips jerked against hers over and over, filling her to completion. Her neck arched and she felt him bite down on a sensitive tendon. One hand was buried in his hair and the other was clenched on his back.

He rode her desperately and she felt like she was flying apart. His hands were everywhere and she felt fiery, overheated anywhere his fingers touched. She felt the table shake and saw that he'd slammed his hand on the edge, gripping it and using the leverage to slam into her harder and faster. She shook and wailed, thrashing as she came around him, feeling the hot pulses of him inside her.

The next day, Ginny was cranky at work. When she and Harry came back from an afternoon meeting, she sank into her chair and let her head thunk onto the desk.

"I hate you." She muttered, letting herself sink slowly into the desk. Harry snorted.

"Hardly."

"You kept me up until three o'clock in the morning." She sighed, laying her head on her arms and thinking about taking a nap right then and there.

"Are you complaining?" She could almost see the smirk in his words, they were dripping with male arrogance.

"I'm complaining that it took so long." She muttered, feeling herself lolled into sleep.

"I'll just be really quick about it next time, ok? Only one orgasm for you, not…What is it we got up to?" He asked, and she could hear him smiling, still. _Cocky. _

"Five." She sighed again, part remembering and part exhaustion. A sharp rap on the door made her head shoot off her desk, but she wasn't fast enough.

"Laying down on the job?" Romilda asked snarkily. Ginny scowled at her.

"I was just resting my eyes for a moment." She retorted. "Do you have some paperwork for me? Or just messages from Colin, _temp?_" She said the other woman's title with more venom than she should have, but couldn't be bothered to feel bad. She was tired, and cranky, and this bitch was just annoying her. Romilda narrowed her eyes.

"Both, _ma'am_." She repeated Ginny's tone back to her. "And some for Agent Potter." She crossed the room to hand Ginny several files that she recognized as her latest piece on the Southeast softball leagues. Romilda snarled at her as she took it.

"I found at least thirty spelling errors alone, not to mention some questionable sentence structure." She turned and gave Harry a single paper before bustling out the door saying, "Most days I'm ashamed to have graduated from the same _institution_ that allowed _you_ out the doors." And then promptly slammed the door behind her.

Ginny let her head drop onto the newly delivered files.

"I hate her. And you." She groaned. "And Colin. This is the second time he's sent that harpy to correct perfectly good work!" She sighed and sat up, finding that Harry was staring at her with a blank look.

"You went to college with Romilda?" He asked haltingly.

"She was a few years below me. I didn't know her in college. What?" She asked when he scowled at the wall.

"Your ex, who you went to school with, isn't in your file. Your co-worker, who you went to school with, hates you. Draco Malfoy graduated from your school a year before you… Anyone I'm missing?" He raised his eyebrows at her. She got a heavy feeling in her stomach.

"Colin Creevey, my boss. We were on the paper together. We graduated in the same class." She whispered. Harry shook his head. "What are you thinking?" She asked nervously.

He shook his head again and bent to study the paper Romilda had given him. "Don't worry about it." He muttered, but for the rest of the day she couldn't seem to shake the feeling that he'd just came across something big.

The uneasy feeling stuck with her even as she walked home. Harry had barely spoken since his earlier discovery, and was deep in thought all the way to the apartment. He barely looked up long enough to nod at the officer and patrol car parked across the street from her apartment. He didn't notice the other officer give him an odd, guilty look. But Ginny did.

She frowned as they walked up the steps. The building was quiet for five thirty on a week night. Something was wrong.

As they rounded the corner and saw her apartment door, they both stopped short.

"I'm so sorry!" Seamus blurted, surrounded by about five other officers and agents. A short, chubby man stepped forward with a pair of gleaming silver handcuffs. His badge read "Longbottom".

"Harry Potter? You're under arrest for conspiracy of murder and kidnapping in the case of Ginny Weasley. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you…"

The rest of the man's words were blurry to Ginny. She watched in horror as the cuffs clicked around Harry's wrist. His mouth was moving, and she understood that he was asking questions to the people around him, but they wouldn't give him answers.

"What? No!" She said, stepping to interfere. She felt strong, familiar hands, _Seamus_, hold her arms and drag her back. The last thing she saw before her apartment door slammed shut was Harry's face looking back at her as he was being led down the stairs.

_What? Bahahaha. I'm so mean. I'm sorry! More soon!_


	17. Chapter 17

_I couldn't leave you guys hanging for TOO long! I really am sorry about that horrible cliffie. I hope you'll forgive me. _

_As always, enjoy and review if you are so moved…_

Harry clenched his fists on the hard, metal arms of his chair. He was staring stony-faced at the one-way mirror. Whoever was on the other side should be scared, because he felt like he could pull an 'X-Men' and rip the chair out of the floor and hurl it at the glass.

He knew there was someone in there. Probably several someones. It's not every day that the world-famous, award-winning, heroic do-gooder Harry Potter gets arrested. People would want to see this.

_Arrested._ He thought to himself bitterly. _Arrested?_ _For what? _ He knew what, technically. Conspiracy in the murder and kidnapping of Ginny Weasley. Hell no. He wanted to yell at these idiots. He wanted to kick and scream and assure them that if any of them ever had sex with Ginny, they'd know exactly why this was so ridiculous. A guy wanted to keep that feeling around for as long as possible.

Guaranteed to repel murder and kidnapping. A-one guaranteed.

He repressed a sigh and tried to stop himself from tapping his feet. He knew what the idiots on the other side of the glass were looking for. Jitters, twitches, other general signs of guilt or discomfort. But Harry blinked steadily ahead. He wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

Harry rattled off various facts and lists in his head. Worked hard to remember various passages from the officer's handbook. Anything to try and cool the blood boiling in his veins. Eventually, screwing up his face a bit in concentration, he tried to remember the patterns on the rug in Ginny's apartment. Was it blue square brown triangle? Or brown triangle and cream square? He jumped when he heard a muffled yell from the other side of the mirror.

He couldn't say he was surprised. There were a lot of people that wouldn't want him here. People, reasonable people, that could take one look at him and see that he'd never hurt a fly, let alone the woman he lov-

_Nope. _He thought, shaking his head roughly. _Nope, I'm not going to go there while I'm chained to a table in an interrogation room._

He lifted his head as he heard the door squeak open. A familiar man stepped through. Harry willed his body to relax and slump back into his chair.

"Remus." He greeted the man, folding his hands over his stomach. "So you got the short straw?" Harry asked as Remus Lupin sat down across the table from him and smirked back softly.

"Coin toss, actually. No one wanted to touch this case."

Harry snorted. "I'm not surprised. Is Sirius here yet? I thought I heard yelling." Remus grimaced and opened a small file in front of him.

"Yeah, Sirius is here." Lupin shook his head and flipped calmly through the pages. "I've been friends with the man since we were eleven and he still threatened to break my fingers if I so much as thought about filing this paperwork wrong." The older man smiled up at Harry. "And Severus, of course. He's getting ready to knock heads together, mark my words. You've got a few advocates, Potter. Thank your lucky stars for that."

"I don't need luck, Remus. I didn't do anything." Harry replied. But Lupin just nodded and waved his fingers at him as he looked back down at the papers.

"Alright, so I'm here to do some exploratory work. We have to look into some things but this doesn't look extremely likely. And in any case, even if I do find anything, Snape is already pulling money out of the bank for your bail."

Harry frowned and flickered his eyes to the mirror where he knew the older agent would be standing and listening.

"Well, he really shouldn't be doing that." He said, raising his voice slightly and not taking his eyes off the mirror. There was a sharp rap on the glass and he had to keep from smiling. Yep. Snape was in there, all right.

"Harry?" Lupin got his attention and flipped to a clean page on a legal pad. "Let's start at the beginning. When was the first time you met Ginny Weasley?"

Harry nodded grimly and answered the questions. Back and forth they went for a long time, Harry didn't even know how long. _"Where do you sleep in Miss Weasley's house? Would you say you're well acquainted with your charge? How often do you check her mail? Are you well acquainted with your charge's family? How often do you see outside visitors? Where were you on the night of…"_ On and on and on.

And Harry answered truthfully. It was the Cardinal Rule of Interrogation. If there's one thing that you learn as a cop, it's that lying gets you no where. The criminals and idiots that lied to the cops or tried to run and hide never, ever got a good deal. If you cooperate, there was no telling the amount of leniency you could get.

So Harry answered Lupin's questions honestly, no matter how many there were. He answered assuredly and quickly after they were asked, all the while keeping the Cardinal Interrogation rule in his head on repeat. Everything was going smoothly until…

"Harry?" Remus asked after a moment. Harry was staring at the mirror again. He felt like his brain had started buzzing and suddenly sweat broke out on his palms. "Harry," Remus repeated for a second time, "are you currently engaged in a sexual or romantic relationship with Miss Weasley?"

Harry swallowed and cleared his throat, trying not to picture the matching looks of horror on Snape and Sirius's faces behind the mirror when he said, "Yes, I am."

Lupin closed his eyes for a second and took a small breath. _Yeah._ Harry thought. _That completely shoots my credibility to hell._ Lupin made a note on his paper before turning back to Harry.

"Well, we'd suspected as much. We got two anonymous tips about some peculiar interactions between you two."

"Two?" Harry was shocked. One had to be Dawlish, but who was the other…?

Remus continued. "Then we got some information from Ron Weasley about a missing paper in his sister's file. He said he'd talked to you about it, but you didn't report it. Agent Finnegan did."

Harry frowned. Ok, that didn't do much for his credibility either.

"And to date, you've found a message from the stalker that slipped by the team of _five_ officers that are filtering her mail. And you weren't present on the night of the second attack at the Rochester. And since those two incidents, the hate mail and threats have been coming more and more frequently.

"We also found this in the back of your car." Remus slid a receipt from the file and showed it to Harry. It was a receipt for a toy store in Harry's neighborhood. It only had one transaction on it and had been paid in cash. The print read "Ovrsz Doll".

"Oversized Doll." Harry murmured, having to stop his voice from catching.

Harry sat back in his chair, hard. Well, this wasn't good. Remus's mouth thinned into a thin line and he took a picture out of the back of the folder.

"Do you recognize this man?" He asked Harry, who leaned forward. Harry frowned.

"Yeah. He was a recruit in the year below me at Academy. I've never spoken to him, though. I don't even know his name, just saw him around the training yards."

"That's Michael Corner. The man who's missing from Ginny Weasley's file. Are you sure you never spoke to him, Harry?" Lupin's voice was strained from talking so much, but Harry could tell that he was searching for something, anything, to let Harry walk free. He nodded.

"Well, like I said, we're still looking into some things. It's fishy that all of this should come to the surface in the space of about twenty-four hours. And when we traced the tips they all came from an isolated payphone. All except for one, which was written."

_Dawlish_. Harry thought just as the door swung open to reveal a wild-eyed Sirius, followed by Seamus Finnegan. Remus opened his mouth, but Seamus cut him off.

"I wasn't the one who reported the Corner thing! It was…Well, I mean I _was_ the one who submitted the inquiry, but Harry was the one who told me to do it! He felt bad because I'd had a fight with my-"

Sirius cut Seamus off. "And I can attest that Agent Potter is meticulous about his car. He never allows any trash to sit in it for more than about a minute. That's a character statement." He growled, shoving a tape under Remus's nose. "That's a security tape of Harry leaving his apartment three minutes after the incident at the Rochester, so he couldn't have been there."

"Latex." Harry muttered under his breath. Sirius sucked in an excited breath.

"_And_ while Harry's fingerprints were on the stray threat on the magazine, there were also traces of latex, implying that someone else had handled it while wearing gloves. Trying to keep their fingerprints off of it."

Remus held up a hand. "I get it, Sirius. He's innocent." He lowered his voice and leaned in closer. "I know that, but that doesn't change the fact that I have to be thorough." He straightened. "Let me go confer. I'll be back."

With that, Harry's interrogator walked out and closed the door quietly, leaving him, Seamus and Sirius alone. Sirius clapped his back and sat in Lupin's recently vacated chair.

"They've got nothing." He told Harry.

"Nothing except the fact that I'm sleeping with her?" Harry asked, tipping his head back and allowing his eyes to close. Sirius scoffed.

"That's nothing. You're not the first. I researched it and there's a precedent case with an Agent in 1984, what happened-"

"How did you have time to look up other cases? I've only been here an hour." Harry interrupted. Seamus smiled down at them.

"I may have given Mr. Black a bit of a heads up before they came to take you in." He said, rocking bashfully on his heels. "I knew you didn't do anything. You couldn't! The way you look at her…" Seamus turned red around the ears and looked away. An awkward silence followed as the three sat and avoided each others' gaze.

Finally the door swung open. Remus poked his head inside. "Come with me. All of you." He said shortly and ducked back out. Harry made to stand and follow Seamus out, but was stopped short by his cuffs holding him to the chair. Which was nailed to the floor. An officer rushed into the room with keys.

"Longbottom." Harry greeted as the man unlocked his wrists.

"Agent Potter." The man was looking at the floor and turned pink. "I was just following-"

"Orders." Harry nodded sympathetically. "I'd feel bad if I arrested you, too. No hard feelings?" He asked over his shoulder, almost jogging to keep up with Sirius. They followed Lupin down a long hall and past dozens of cubicles.

_At least it's night, so there aren't people here to stare._ Harry thought as he crossed the threshold into Kingsley's office. His Captain looked up at him grimly.

"Agent Potter. I hereby remove you of your duties of protecting Miss Ginny Weasley. I also sentence you to three weeks of personal leave."

Harry blinked at him. "What?" He began, not sure what to do with such an abrupt order. Kingsley nodded and bent back to some papers.

"You're becoming too attached to the case again." He said, and Harry knew he meant that he'd become too attached to Ginny. "You've got a record with that, Potter. I don't mess around with the safety of my agents or my clients, understood?" Harry nodded, feeling suddenly tired.

What a bizarre night. It all seemed like a blur to him. Had it really been only this morning that he'd been laughing in bed with Ginny? That they'd talked in her office? He hadn't even had dinner yet…He glanced at the clock and saw it was close to midnight. _Where's Ginny? Who's with her?_ He wanted to ask, but thought that it might come a bit close to the "too attached" conversation again.

So if he were here, then Kinglsey would know about his relationship with Ginny. _Should I apologize?_ He wondered, but didn't even know where he would start. _Sir, I apologize for getting intimate with my charge even though you basically told me to?_ No. Not a good plan. Instead, his mind derailed and began spinning over the past few hours, cataloguing all the evidence that had been brought against him.

If he could track it all down, maybe make some connections back to the source of the anonymous tips then maybe he could-

"Harry!" Sirius's exasperated voice brought him suddenly out of his stupor. Sirius glared at him and tipped his head towards Kingsley, who looked like he was holding back a sigh. Or a smile, Harry couldn't tell.

"I said, Agent Potter, that as your official leave of absence starts now, I'd appreciate it if you'd please vacate the station." His captain said. Harry blanched. Was he really in this much trouble? Surely this was only a temporary absence?

"Sir, I'm so sorry. I-" He started.

Kingsley held up a hand to halt Harry's stilted apology. "Please, Potter. It's been a long night. I've sent for someone to take you home." He sank down in the chair behind his desk and picked up the pen again.

"Please, sir. It's not a problem. I'm sure Sirius or Snape will-"

Sirius clapped a hand a bit too roughly on his back, shutting him up and guiding out of the room.

"Just go, Harry." He said through clenched teeth. They rounded the corner to the main lobby and Sirius barely had time to step out of the way before Ginny came hurtling into his arms.

She collided with him so hard that he had to step backwards to keep from falling, but grabbed her tightly all the same.

"Gin…" He said, feeling the tension release with a _whoosh_ from his body. Did this mean that this horrible night was officially over? He peered over the top of her head and saw that Severus was standing in the lobby as well.

His mentor's hair was messy and greasier than usual, as if he'd been running his fingers through it a lot. He toyed with some car keys and spoke softly to Sirius. Snape had brought him Ginny.

Harry closed his eyes and buried his nose in her hair, pulling back to press a kiss to her forehead. She reached up to stroke her thumb over his face.

"Let's get out of here." She whispered and he nodded tiredly. They rode quietly, sitting in Snape's backseat and holding hands. Harry could barely remember entering his apartment, let alone laying down on the bed.

The last thing he was aware of was burying his face in Ginny's neck as she stroked his back.

_He's home! But the case is just starting to heat up… Review if you wanna! I know I want ya to!_


	18. Chapter 18

_I have officially outlined the rest of the story in my official story-out-lining notebook! It's set in stone, people! We officially have 21 chapters in store! Maybe an epilogue, but we shall have to wait and see._

_But that means we only have 4 more chapters! I'm really happy with how it's worked out so far, and am really excited to see what you guys think about the ending. I'm so glad that you're enjoying it so far, and am so appreciative of all the great support. Thank you so much. Alright, well, enjoy chapter 18!_

Harry blinked open his eyes. He felt like his head had been hit repeatedly with one of Ginny's old soccer cleats. He had a mind to close his eyes and go back to sleep until the pain subsided, but when he reached out to pull Ginny closer…

Harry shot up, scrambling for his glasses.

"Ginny!" He yelled, throwing the covers off. "Ginny where-!" He shot into the hallway, almost tripping over a chair. He stopped short when he saw the kitchen and gasped, clutching at his chest.

Ginny eyed him, her coffee cup halfway to her mouth. "Morning." She said wryly, quirking an eyebrow. Severus was shamelessly laughing at him from behind a newspaper.

"Bit jumpy there, Potter?" He asked, watching as Harry slumped into the chair next to Ginny and pulled her into a chaste kiss.

"You just scared the shit out of me." He muttered against her mouth. She pulled back, smiling.

"I saw. I _heard! _We should go apologize to the neighbors." She told him, pushing her half-eaten plate of pancakes towards him. He scrubbed his hand down his pants, trying to rid his palm of the terrifyingly blank feel of the cotton sheets of his bed. It hadn't been her he'd felt, and his stomach had tightened horribly at the thought of her not being there.

_But she is here, stupid. Get a hold of yourself. _Harry thought, reaching for a fork as Snape passed him a cup of coffee.

"I like the new look. Keeps your jeans nice and wrinkled." He said sarcastically. Harry glanced down and saw that he was still in his clothes from yesterday. He scowled across the table.

"Sorry that clothes wasn't the first thing on my mind when I came home from being interrogated for over seven hours." Harry snapped.

Ginny hissed and reached out to rub his arm. "Was it horrible?" She asked quietly. Harry dropped his gaze to her and immediately felt like a total asshole. Guilt was written all over her face.

"No. It was completely fine. Nothing happened. Really." He told her, taking her hand in his. Ginny's eyes dropped.

"If we hadn't gotten…in the garage…" She shook her head and Snape subtly raised his paper to give them some privacy. Harry leaned closer.

"Ginny this wasn't your fault. It wasn't even Dawlish's report that got me-"

"He wrote a report?" She blanched, dropping her fork. "I…I'm so sorry! I was trying so hard, and we'd been doing so well-"

"Hey." Harry said, also abandoning his fork and taking her face in his hands. "This was not your fault." He said again, stroking her cheeks. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but Ginny hated to cry. She held them in valiantly. "This wasn't anyone's fault, ok? There was something else. Some other evidence…"

Harry shook his head and dropped his gaze. Ginny didn't need to know all of that. She had enough to worry about without all of the cards stacking up against him in this investigation. He looked back up at her, and smiled reassuringly.

"It doesn't even matter. I'm here now, aren't I? And I'm not going anywhere. You got me out of there. You rescued me." She snorted and he winked at her. "My hero." He said, grinning cheekily, happy to see her roll her eyes and push him away.

"You're ridiculous." She said, her voice stronger than before. He pulled her to him and laid an exaggerated, sloppy kiss on her. She giggled and wriggled out of his grip.

"Ok! Alright, I get it. You're fine! Ah! Let me go so I can shower." She stood, avoiding his grasping hands.

"Do you need some help soaping up? Since you _are_ my personal hero, it's the least I can do." He called after her, watching as she smiled at him saucily before disappearing into the bathroom and locking the door with a _click._

The smile on his face dropped.

"I'm not going anywhere, right?" He asked carefully, watching as Snape lowered the paper.

"I don't know." He said, setting the _Daily Gazette_ aside and leaning forward on his elbows. "There was only so much we could do last night. We got you out, but there was a whole new stack of anonymous reports on the police steps this morning. Whoever's doing this, it's gotten personal." Severus shook his head and reached for the coffee again. Harry waited, but he didn't say anything else.

"And?" He asked finally. Snape shrugged at him.

"And what?"

"And what am I supposed to do? Sit here and twiddle my thumbs until I get hauled off to jail again? Or maybe I could just go ahead and escort myself down there so I can get a good bunk. I'm sure I'll be down there long enough-"

"Don't be ridiculous." Snape growled. "You're being overdramatic. We're not going to let them take you again."

"We?" Harry asked, irritated at being put in his place.

Severus grinned at him. "We. Your legal representation."

Harry squinted at him. "Please tell me that you're not my lawyer. You'd probably screw it up and I'd get the death sentence or something."

"Very funny." Snape said dryly. "No, I'm not your lawyer, I've just taken over Ginny's case. Sirius is. And he's paired up with Hermione Weasley."

Harry sat back in his chair. He'd expected Snape to push to get his case and was glad he'd succeeded.

"Hermione?" He asked, not bothering to correct his former teacher about her last name debacle. Snape nodded, standing to rinse off his plate.

"She was invaluable last night." He said. "She was the one that woke up the district judge at eleven o'clock and got him to sign a warrant for the video of you on the night of the Rochester attack. And she's the one that told Sirius what you'd said about the latex traces on the magazine." Snape smiled. "You should be thanking her that you're not still in that interrogation room."

Harry blew out a gust of air. "I will as soon as I see her."

"Should be soon. She and Ron and Sirius went to go get the surveillance tapes from the store the doll was bought from. They should be back soon."

And they were. Just as Ginny was stepping out of the shower, the front door opened and all three of Harry's legal representation walked in. Harry jumped up and hugged Hermione.

"Thank you." He said, blushing a little as he pulled away. She reached up and patted his face, smiling gently.

"It was nothing. Don't worry about it." She said, passing him to throw an overstuffed briefcase onto his couch. Ron put a hand on his shoulder.

"Glad you're out of jail. Keep your hands off my wife." He said, also moving to plop down on the couch next to the briefcase. Which left Sirius.

He gave Harry a fatherly one-armed hug, looking him in the eye and asking if he was ok and when he'd eaten and if he'd slept.

"We got about three weeks worth of surveillance tapes here." He said as Ginny padded out of Harry's room. "Their organization system was non-existent."

"Maybe that's why they were so happy to give 'em to us." Ron chimed in, swallowing an enormous bite of pancake. "Thought we'd straighten up a bit." He suddenly pointed his fork severely at Hermione. "Don't even think about it. You've got enough to do."

She rolled her eyes at the paper she was studying, and Harry heard her mutter sarcastically, "But I just got a new label-maker…" Which made Ron laugh.

Sirius set the large bag of tapes on Harry's coffee table and sighed. He looked around at the group, scattered around on chairs and couches, Ginny was on the floor.

"Well, then. Let's get started."

oOo

Ginny rubbed her eyes and covered her face for a moment, enjoying the darkness. Since Harry's arrest three days ago she hadn't gotten much sleep.

Her time was mostly split between trying to keep up with the mass amounts of work that Colin was piling on her, trying to get to know Snape better and trying to help Harry with all of the legal attacks being hauled against him.

She was failing at all three, but mostly with Harry. She'd all but given up with that one. Harry was adamant about protecting her from the issues of his case, and there was only so much information that Sirius could sneak to her. She'd really begun to like the outspoken lawyer. It was clear that he cared greatly for Harry, and he was the type of man that had never met a stranger. Snape on the other hand…

Ginny peeked up at him through her fingers. Severus Snape was a matter of his own. He was polite, cordial even, but Ginny couldn't get him to open up about anything. He wasn't stand-offish, exactly, but he wasn't friendly either. He was good at his job and fiercely protective of Harry and Sirius, but that's all Ginny could really get from him.

And then there was work. It seemed like every time she turned around someone was shoving more work or revisions into her face. And Romilda was lapping it up like a cat with cream. She absolutely adored watching Ginny struggling because of her husband's assignments, and kept making thinly veiled comments about how she was going to get promoted and take Ginny's job.

There was only so much a girl could take.

The clock in the corner chimed that it was five and she sighed. Lately, it seemed like she was just bouncing back and forth between work and Harry's apartment. Romilda didn't want her at the office, Harry didn't want her help at his place.

Most of the time, he fell just short of ignoring her and barely interacted with her as he, Snape and his "legal team" immersed themselves with the case.

"Miss Weasley." Snape's soft, mildly cultured voice cut through her thoughts. She waved her hand at him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's go." She sighed and pushed herself out of her chair. As she walked down the hall to the elevator, she tried not to notice as people stared. Everyone knew that something had happened, but no one had the guts to come ask her about it.

_Cowards_. She thought bitterly as she and Snape stepped into the elevator. _I work with these people for so long! In know their wives, husbands, kids…they can't even pay me the courtesy of asking after my welfare? Where do they get off? When Brenda broke her leg, I went to see her in hospital, for Christ's sake! And Ed? I was the first to send flowers when his mother died…_

By the time Severus drove her to Harry's building, she was in a mood.

"Hey." She said when she entered Harry's apartment. As usual, he and his legal team were scattered around the kitchen table. Harry grunted and reached out to pull her into a hug with one arm. He didn't even look at her as she bent to kiss his cheek.

"We have to find Corner." He muttered, letting her go. "He's wrapped up in all this pretty tightly."

"But we're trying!" Hermione threw her hands up. "There's only so much we can do with a man who's been missing for almost a month."

"Vacation, my ass." Sirius said. "He's hiding."

Ginny crossed to the kitchen counter where they'd set bags of take-out. She listened to their talk about her ex while she fixed a plate and wished that she could be listening to anything else. She was tired of not being able to do anything. She was tired of feeling like she was going to be killed any second. She was tired of having to think about Harry getting arrested again. She was tired of being useless at work…She was just tired.

She thought about telling Harry that she was going to go work in the guest room, but knew that he probably wouldn't hear her anyways.

She took her plate and her work bag and closed herself in the guest room, shutting it with a _click_ right in Snape's face. She wasn't really up for company, even if it was silent.

By ten, she was much calmer. She'd finished most of the revisions on a few of her stories, and she'd talked herself down from her anger. _Of course everyone's tense. It's a tense situation_.

She yawned and stretched her arms above her head. It was time for bed. Maybe she was even tired enough to sleep through the night.

She gathered all her work and shoved it in her bag. Snape was leaning against the wall outside her door.

"Sorry." She told him. He merely tilted his head and followed her into the living room. Hermione had gone, but Harry and Sirius were in the same place. Ginny slung her bag on the chair next to the door and padded over to Harry where he was studying a huge book. She reached out and smoothed his hair back. He looked exhausted.

"Hey." She said. He didn't look up, but grunted. "I'm going to bed." She said, tugging a lock of his hair and wishing he'd look up at her. He didn't. She paused. "Are you coming anytime soon?"

"Probably not." He said softly, but he finally lifted his head to look at her with blood-shot eyes. "Sleep well." He said, tilting his head up for a kiss. She bent down reluctantly.

She didn't get a full night's sleep after all.

In the morning, she had to stop herself from screaming. Logically, she'd known that Harry had come to bed last night. She'd woken up around four am from a fitful sleep when he'd slid between the covers. He hadn't touched her, but had begun to snore immediately.

But when she woke up, he was already up and in the shower. In the kitchen, she had to squeeze past Ron and Snape on her way to the coffee machine, but there was no coffee left. She ate her stale toast standing because there wasn't room at the table.

At work, Colin sent back every single revision she'd made last night, Romilda stood outside her office and gossiped loudly about a potential "personnel cutback" that seemed to consist solely of Ginny, and people had stopped staring at her, instead ignoring her altogether. She had to bite her lip from crying when Sharon, her favorite mail-lady, plopped down several letters and practically ran out of Ginny's office without speaking.

Ginny felt deeply tired and upset by the time she trudged up the steps to Harry's apartment. Her heart lightened when she opened the door and saw Harry smiling. He jumped up when he saw her and she walked straight into his open arms.

She felt tears gather when she felt him hold her tightly. _Finally._ She knew she'd needed this. She felt the tension drain from her sore muscles when he pressed a kiss into her hair.

"I missed you." She sighed. He pulled back to peck her lips and looked at her oddly.

"Missed me? Gin I've been right here. But guess what? We found out that the store, payphone, and magazine address are all within a four block radius of each other!" Ginny felt disappointment wash over her when he pulled away to sit back down, pulling a large map towards him.

"Now we just have to cross-reference the phone calls with the dates and times of the-"

Ginny tuned him out just as he'd tuned her out. She glanced in the kitchen, and saw only a few bagels and last night's take-out. Her mood worsened when Hermione caught her eye and gave her a sad, sympathetic look. She trudged into the guest bedroom and snapped the door shut.

As she laid in bed that night, she bit her lip to hold in tears. She felt like everything was on edge. All the people around her had better things to do. She couldn't help. She was the one who'd caused all this mess. She was the one who'd brought this mess into Harry's life. He didn't need the hassle any more than he needed her.

She felt the bed dip as he rolled in next to her. She couldn't stand it anymore.

"Harry?" She whispered. He rolled onto his side and wrapped a careless arm around her.

"Night Gin." He muttered, and she felt his breathing even out on her neck.

Where was the man she knew? The man who knew exactly how to cheer her up. The man that, not even five days ago, had sat in her kitchen and kissed her and made her feel like everything was ok.

Harry rolled over in his sleep and his arm slipped off of her. She finally gave into the tears that had been building for days.

The next day when she came home from work, she had to pause and take a breath before she entered Harry's apartment. When she swung the door open, she bit her tongue to keep the tears in.

Ever since her cry last night, it seemed like she couldn't stop. She gingerly stepped over stacks of files and books, trying to find a place to put her bag. Today, Harry didn't even look up at her. She gave up looking for free space and carried her bag to the kitchen. The only thing she saw was an empty pizza box.

"Sorry. There's none left." Sirius muttered, barely flicking his eyes at her. She breathed slowly and made her way to the guest room. She halted just inside the door. She could sense Snape directly behind her. She didn't shut the door on him.

Instead she looked over her shoulder at him. For a man that hadn't spoken to her for days, he had an oddly sad, empathetic look on his face. It made her want to cry.

She didn't. Instead she asked, "Will you take me home?" He nodded and reached out to take her heavy, over-full bag from her shoulder. She let him have it and tried not to crumple as they walked past the kitchen and out of the apartment.

Harry hadn't said a word to her, and she wondered if he'd even noticed she was there. Or if she'd left.

_Ah! Not a huge cliffhanger there, but a tiny bit of tension. I hope you guys like it! Let me know! I live off reviews._


	19. Chapter 19

_We're taking a break from the cases for some fluff. They both need a little TLC, don't you think? _

Once she was firmly seated in Snape's car, she couldn't stop the tears. She was so run-down. She felt like she was just floating through someone else's world. A place she couldn't even try to belong to.

To his credit, Snape didn't say anything on the short drive to her apartment. Even when her sobs began to shake her body no matter how hard she tried to suppress them. She dreaded having to face Seamus in this state, but he wasn't the one sitting in front of her door tonight. It was Dawlish, the man who'd seen her and Harry in the parking garage.

The thought brought on fresh tears and she ducked past him, not making contact. She rushed into the guest bathroom as soon as her door was open, and left Snape to fend for himself.

She sat heavily on the edge of the tub and buried her face in her hands. Even last night, she'd had to hold in her cries, lest she wake Harry. But damn it she was in her own apartment behind closed doors.

She let herself cry over everything. Over the past three months, her emotional ups and downs with Harry, the clawing fear for her life and his reputation. She cried over sweet Seamus who'd fought with his girlfriend but had still stayed after his shift when she was waiting to hear about Harry's arrest. She cried about Romilda and how everyone at work seemed against her.

She lost track of how long she cried and what exactly she was sobbing about. She cried until she was hoarse and out of breath. Her throat ached and her head was throbbing.

She'd broken into sharp sniffles when a soft knock came from the door. Ginny hurriedly wiped her eyes as Severus entered. He handed her a large mug of tea and she recognized the smell of chamomile. When she looked to the bottom of the cup, there were small white flakes of a sleeping pill. She attempted a smile.

"Harry does this." She said, taking a sip and letting the hot liquid soothe her throat. Snape paused and squatted down in front of her.

"Where do you think he learned it?" He asked. "He stole my coffee recipe, too."

Ginny peered at him. "I'm…I'm really sorry about all the hysterics." She said. He quirked his lips in a half smile.

"You lasted longer than I expected. I figured we'd be here about day three."

Ginny swallowed. "I couldn't just leave him. I care too much about him. I…I think that I…" Her throat worked, but she couldn't make her mouth form the words. She broke off and stifled another sob, raising her cup for a drink instead. Snape nodded anyways.

"I think you do, too. I also think he loves you, as well."

"He's got an interesting way of showing it, lately." She said bitterly before she could stop herself. She closed her eyes sadly. "I'm so sorry. That was so…so selfish. And it's not like I don't realize-"

"Stop." Snape cut her off. "I've been there. I've seen him. He's being an idiot, and if I were you I'd be complaining a lot more. Harry's got an interesting sense of duty. If something is really important, he tends to push everything else aside. He did it with the Riddle case, and he's doing it now."

Ginny nodded. "He told me. I just…" She took another sip of the tea. "I guess I just don't understand why he can be ok with sitting in the same place for days at a time. He doesn't talk to me. I haven't seen him eat. He barely sleeps-"

"But he _is_ sleeping, which is an improvement over last time." Snape interrupted. He took her empty mug and stood. "It doesn't seem like it now, because you didn't see him last time, but he is trying, Ginny. The reason he's getting like this is because it has to do with you, but he _is_ still trying."

He left Ginny blinking in confusion. After a few moments, she felt exhaustion wash over her. It was all she could do to drag herself into bed. Her eyes stung, but her mind went blissfully blank as she slipped into sleep.

oOo

Harry cracked his neck. It was sore from being bent over evidence files and books and maps for hours at a time. Sirius clapped him on the back and stood, gathering a few papers.

"We're getting closer." He told Harry, helping Hermione clear some dishes. She nodded.

"And we've been able to keep your name cleared." She said, yawning. "As long as we keep putting evidence together, we can keep it that way and solve this case." Harry grinned at her as she rubbed her eyes.

"You need to sleep, Hermione." He said, noticing for the first time the smudges under her eyes. She smirked at him.

"I will when you do."

A knock sounded at the door. "That'll be Ron. I'm much too tired to drive home." Hermione said, crossing to open the door to her husband. They smiled at the sight of each other and she stepped easily into his arms.

He murmured something into her hair that made her laugh, but Harry couldn't hear what it was. Ron looked over her head to wave to Harry and Sirius.

"If you keep overworking her, there'll be nothing left for me." He said, grinning when his wife swatted at him, her eyes still closed. He winked at Harry and swung her up into his arms.

She squeaked, but kept her eyes closed and settled into his shoulder. Harry watched Ron closed the door behind them. Looking at them sent a pang through him. He wanted that. He wanted that with Ginny.

He smiled. _As soon as this case is over._ He promised himself. He hauled himself to his feet and ignored the light dizziness that spun his head. He nodded at Sirius.

"Lock the door behind you." He said, shuffling to his bedroom door. He started when he opened it.

His room was empty. He frowned and peeked into the bathroom. Also dark and empty. He retreated to the guest bedroom. Maybe Ginny had fallen asleep while she'd been working…? But that room was empty, too. He hustled back to the living room.

"Where's Ginny?" He asked. Sirius lifted his brows and looked at him quietly for a long moment. A feeling of dread spread in Harry's stomach.

"She left hours ago." Sirius said finally. "Surely, you knew that?"

"Is Snape with her?" Harry asked, feeling his heart speed up slightly. Sirius put down his briefcase to look at him fully.

"Of course, he's with her. He's her bodyguard. She left right after she got here."

Harry frowned and tried to remember seeing her tonight. He came up blank. He swallowed and tried to remember the past few days. What had he eaten? When was the last time he'd showered? He couldn't slide a solid memory into place that didn't have to do with the paperwork scattered around his kitchen.

"It's happening again. I should have noticed." Sirius sighed, resting his hands on his briefcase. "But I'm as frantic about work as you are. I'm so sorry, Harry."

Harry scrubbed his hands over his face. "No. It's not your job to babysit me." He dropped his hand. "I should have… God, Ginny must think…" He trailed off. He didn't even know what Ginny thought of him. His feet began moving before his mind did.

He snagged his keys from the counter and made his way to the door. He looked back to Sirius and his eyes caught on the mess in his apartment. How had it even gotten to this point without him noticing?

"Lock the door, ok? I might not be in tomorrow morning to let you in."

Sirius nodded grimly. "I'm hoping you won't." He said. Harry slipped out the door and ran down the steps and out to his car.

On his way over to Ginny's, Harry ran through all of the things he needed to say to her. _I'm sorry. I'm stupid. I'm a huge dick for not realizing that I was ignoring you_.

All of the above seemed like good options, but until he could see her, he had no idea what state she'd even be in. Angry, most likely. Upset? _Please, God, I hope she's not crying. _He thought, jiggling his keys nervously as he bounded up the stairs. He stopped short when he saw Snape talking quietly to Dawlish.

_You, I'll deal with later._ Harry thought, passing the officer and headed straight to Snape.

"Is she in there?" He demanded.

"No." Snape drawled. "I thought I'd let her walk around at night by herself. I was just about to call a street gang to tell them where she is-"

"It's not funny!" Harry shouted. "I have to see her." He said, shoving past the other man. He felt a hand grip his arm and yank him back.

"I'm not so sure that's such a good idea." His mentor kept an almost painful grip on his arm and got up in Harry's face. _I deserve this._ He thought to himself.

"She's completely torn up." Snape continued, and Harry felt a weight thud in his stomach. "You have no idea what she's been up against. And you've barely been conscious this past week. You couldn't even tell me what day it is, let alone that your…that she's hurting." He punctuated his sentences by shaking Harry. His eyes flicked to Dawlish, who was trying to look as non-invasive as possible.

Snape sighed and let Harry inside, shoving him slightly.

"Keep quiet." He said. Harry nodded and slumped down into his favorite armchair. Snape stared at him then sighed.

"You did it again." He said softly.

"I know!" Harry whispered harshly. "Why didn't you say anyhing?"

"Like you'd have even noticed I was talking to you." Snape ran a hand through his hair. He nodded to the guest room. "She's sleeping. Go and talk, but I swear to God if she starts crying again, I'm kicking you out."

Harry stood shakily. "She's crying? How much?" Snape just looked at him, and Harry felt more weight being added to his stomach.

As he opened the door to the guest bedroom, it seemed like memories swamped him. Was it only five days ago that he'd lain here with Ginny, only worried about her? _And now you've gone and ruined everything by making a complete, obsessive jackass out of yourself. _He thought. He toed off his shoes and crept to the bed, his heart in his throat.

"Ginny." He whispered. She stirred slightly and sighed. She blinked up at him and his heart sank. Her eyes were red and her cheeks looked red and sticky. She'd been crying _a lot_.

"Harry what are you-"

"I'm so sorry. I've been a complete fuck up. I _am_ a complete fuck up. I've been ignoring you and barely even looking at you and not even paying attention to you. I'm horrible. I can't even imagine what you think of me-"

Ginny put her finger against his lips. Her lips were quirked in the smallest of smiles. That was promising.

"Yeah, you've been a huge fuck up. A _complete _fuck up, in your words." She mumbled. "It scared me as much as it hurt me." He frowned against her finger.

"Scared you?" He asked against her finger.

"How am I supposed to take care of you when you don't even care about yourself?" She continued. "I know that your paperwork is important, but I am, too. And so are you. And I don't think you've even looked at anyone in days." She swallowed but lowered her hand. He raised his to stroke the hair across her cheek.

"I'm so sorry. I won't be like that again. I promise."

"You can't promise me that though, can you? How can you fight who you are? What you do?" She closed her eyes and Harry thought that she looked…defeated. He'd never felt so horrible in his life.

"I can. I can make that promise to you." He cupped her cheek and willed her to believe him, or at least to open her eyes. Her lashes fluttered and revealed her deep brown eyes. "Ginny, I will make that promise to you. No more. Ok?" She smiled softly at him.

"How come you can do it now when you couldn't then? This is an ongoing problem, Harry-"

"I didn't have a good reason to, then. The only thing I had was my work. Now I have…you." He felt himself flush at his admission. But Ginny's lips stretched into a full grin.

She pushed herself up and rolled so that she was on top of him. She brushed against him in a soft kiss, flicking her tongue across his lips. He groaned and realized that he'd missed this. The physical contact and holding her and just being with her.

"How am I supposed to stay mad when you say such pretty things?" She asked him, feathering kisses down his neck and running her hands along the hem of his shirt. Harry felt his heart accelerate.

"Not pretty, Gin. More like…" Her fingers slipped up his body to reveal his torso to her. "More like…Rugged and…Manly…"

Ginny snorted against his ribs, sending a wonderful tingling up his spine.

"Rugged and manly admissions of deep affection." She murmured, rolling his shirt until he had to sit up and take it off. He pulled her onto his lap to kiss her again. He had to find some way to occupy his lips before he had a rugged and manly admission of love.

He slid his hands up her back and felt her shiver on him. _No need for that._ He thought, tossing her shirt onto the floor. She reached back to the clasp of her bra, and soon their bare torsos were pressed together. Harry's eyes nearly rolled back in his head, the slide of skin on skin felt so good. Too good.

"Up, Gin. Come on…" He urged, reaching between them to unzip her pants. He was holding on by a thread. He hadn't even touched her in a week and all his tension and pent-up frustrations bubbled to the surface.

She gasped as he plunged his tongue into her mouth. He entertained himself with her breasts while she frantically tried to loose the button of his jeans. She tilted her head for him when he worked his way down her neck, but she didn't allow him to get far before tugging his hair up to capture his mouth again.

She arched against him when he gripped her ass and ground her against him, but their lips slowed and created a new rhythm. It was slower and softer. She sighed against him and slid her tongue lazily against his. He lost himself to just kissing her. Just kissing Ginny Weasley.

It hadn't been too long ago that he'd never thought this would happen. He'd killed himself over just the thought of touching her. How had he lost sight of that? Of the miracle that was this girl in his arms.

She rose and reached down to grip him. His head tipped back and he hissed when she lowered herself onto him. He brought his head up when she was fully seated and gripped her hips, keeping her in place.

"This is so good, Gin. I love…this. I love just being with you like this." He leaned forward to kiss her mouth and didn't linger on what he'd almost confessed to her. _I love you, Ginny. Dear God, do I love you._ He thought it instead.

Her lips pressed against his. It was heaven. He pushed against her hips to create the sweetest pressure. Ginny broke their kiss and rotated her hips, groaning when he hit just that right spot.

That was how they went. It was slow and sweet and easy. And then Ginny started panting in his ear, and his balls drew up tighter.

"More. Oh, God Harry, please more." She moaned into his neck and he tightened his hands on her hips so he could increase their speed. Her breath caught and he gritted his teeth.

If she didn't…he was so not going to last…

"Come on, Gin." He growled. His voice sent her over the edge and her muscles clenched around him, rocketing him into his own orgasm.

He collapsed onto the bed, taking her with him. She puffed out a gust of air into his ear.

"I'm so sorry, Ginny." He was still gasping, but felt that he had to force the admission out.

He felt her kiss the side of his head.

"I forgive you." She muttered. Her body was already relaxing against his and he could tell that she was slipping into sleep. He reached to pull the blankets back around them and let her drift on top of him.

_Just a bit of fluff. There was just so much tension! Glad they got that out of their systems. Please review! _


	20. Chapter 20

Ginny groaned and winced as sunlight slanted across her eyes. She buried her face in the pillow and had to admit that if it were light outside, she'd probably overslept her alarm. But Harry…

Harry.

Her eyes blinked open to look at the man beside her. Truly, completely beside her, not just the ghost of him. His skin still looked pale and waxy, and even with his eyes closed in sleep she could see the dark circles underneath. Ginny wanted so badly to reach out and touch him, to feel his touch, but she knew he needed sleep.

She turned her head to look at the clock. 7:30 am. If she hurried and skipped breakfast she could still make it to work on time. Her body protested and her head throbbed as she tried to ease out of bed without waking Harry. She should have known better.

Her foot hadn't even touched the ground before she felt his strong hands reach out and pull her back against him.

"No." He told her in a groggy voice. He wrapped both of his arms around her torso and buried his face in her neck. She had to smile despite herself. This was the Harry she knew.

"No?" She asked. She dragged her fingers through his hair and gazed down at him, still smiling like an idiot. Harry shook his head.

"No." He repeated, squeezing her a bit tighter. "Stay." He said. She felt his eyelashes against her skin as he opened his eyes. He pressed kisses against her neck and chest and she allowed herself a few minutes to hold him. She felt like she hadn't really had the opportunity to since he'd come back from his arrest.

Six days without him and his kisses and his hands tracing up her spine was more than she'd been able to handle. _You lasted longer than I expected. _Snape had said. _I thought we'd be gone by day three._

Maybe she should have tried to leave earlier than she did, but she had convinced herself that their relationship was young and she didn't need his touch every second and that she could live like that. Clearly she'd been wrong. _Oh, so wrong…_

She groaned when Harry shifted down and she felt the cloth of her top pull down tight. She looked down just in time to see him drag her tank top down to reveal her breasts. She sucked in a breath and Harry raised his head to look up at her.

"Too early? I know I've been horrible. Do you need to go to work…?" He raised his hand to pull her shirt back up but she stopped him, holding her hand over his and keeping it on her chest.

"You have been horrible. You'll need to make it up to me." She grinned at him. Of course she forgave him. He'd slept a full night and had promised to keep himself in check. For her.

Her smile widened and she let the teeniest giggle escape her lips. For her.

She loved this man, and maybe, just maybe, he was beginning to love her to. As she laughed she noticed a shift in his face. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" she asked.

oOo

Harry had to fight to keep his mouth from falling open. He was so in awe of this girl. She just…forgave him! Just like that. She'd said as much last night, but he'd practically been inside her at the time, and he didn't trust a lot of things that were said during sex.

Especially sex as mind-blowing as theirs.

But she'd actually done it. Given him the gift of a second chance and all…for nothing. He'd barely even apologized last night. At least not enough to be proportional to his crimes. He blinked up at her, looking straight into her frowning eyes.

"I'm so in love with you." He blurted. He felt her freeze beneath him and her eyes grew wide. He scrambled and sat back on his knees, holding his hands out as if to stop what she might say.

"Ok, I didn't exactly say that right, but I meant it." He took a sharp breath in. He could not believe he'd just done that. "I know…I know that we're just on the other side of a f-…well, not a fight, but a….a rough patch. And I know that I have absolutely no right to say-even to think that after the way I've been acting…Gin…?"

Her hand had come up to cover her face and her shoulders had curled up. Was she crying? _She's crying. You're an idiot. You made her cry by being horrible and insensitive and…a complete fuck up!_ He reached down hesitantly to rub a finger across her arm.

"Ginny don't cry. I'm not trying-"

He was abruptly cut off by her hand smacking into his arm. The hand that had recently been on her face. That came away to reveal tears…but also the most gorgeous smile Harry had ever seen in his life. His own mouth turned up hopefully in response.

Ginny reached down to tug her shirt up as she struggled to a sitting position. Harry reached down to help her and she reached up to his face.

"Of course I'm crying, you idiot!" She said. Her voice was hushed and she rose to kneel, copying his position. "A girl's allowed to do that when the man she loves tells her he loves her too." As she spoke, a tear fell down her face.

Harry's brain almost refused to process the words, but his grin kept growing on his face, even without his permission.

"I'm sorry. Did you…just say…?" He blinked at her and Ginny laughed.

"I love you, too." She told him, rolling her eyes at him because she'd have to repeat herself. "Oof!"

Harry didn't even think. He just launched himself at her, needing their lips closer. Needing everything closer. He pressed his mouth into hers and swore that he'd never stop.

Especially not now that he could feel Ginny smiling into their kiss, and her hands were on his neck not letting him move and she was using her tongue to drive him crazy. Harry smiled back into her, too.

"I love you." He said again. Just because he could. Ginny broke their kiss and laughed, arching her neck so perfectly that he had to lean down and have a taste. She shivered beautifully at the touch of his lips.

She tugged his hair and he immediately rose to kiss her again. He was completely at her disposal. Anything she wanted, he knew, he'd move heaven and earth. And if she wanted him, well then that was just fucking convenient, wasn't it? Because she could have as much of him as she wanted.

He skimmed his hands down her sides to grip the hem of her shirt. Ginny lifted up and helped him lose his own shirt. He didn't even enjoy the feeling of their skin, didn't have time as he reached down to push her boxers out of the way to find her center.

Her breath whooshed out and her body bowed off the bed. She reached up greedily to bring him back down to her mouth. She sighed when he brought his fingers lower, spreading her wetness to the very center of her. He circled teasingly around her opening and she squirmed and keened against him.

"I love that sound." He told her, watching the rapture on her face. "I love how responsive you are. I love being with you. I love-"

She cut him off with a kiss just as he speared a finger deep inside her. She froze and he felt teeth scrape against his mouth. She was biting her lip, trying to keep herself from crying out too loudly. Harry nuzzled her cheek and kept still inside her. He wanted her to lose control. He wanted her begging and screaming and fuck the guard outside, he loved her and wanted her to be his. Every inch, every sound was all his.

"Trying to stay quiet, Gin?" he asked, panting above her. She released her swollen lip and gasped his name.

"Say my name. Again. Tell me how you feel." He begged, moving, pushing further into her body.

"Harry." She repeated. "Harry please…" She broke off when he maneuvered to rub that one spot that always made her wild. She pressed her lips together to hold in a scream.

"Please what?" He demanded, driving himself as crazy as she felt. His cock was so hard it ached. He wanted nothing more than to make love to her. Now. But he wanted to give her this first. "Say my name. Tell me you love me." He whispered, stroking her faster. She made a sound deep in her throat.

"Harry. Yes…Love you so…so much please…Don't stop. Please…Harry!" She cried out and came hard around his finger. The breath froze in his throat while he watched her. Her eyes fluttered and her mouth parted in perfection. Breath rasped through his throat once more and he felt hoarse and raw.

When he finally shed his pants and pushed into her, they were both on the brink. He thrust in once, twice, three times before Ginny came apart underneath him and dragged him down as well. Harry groaned and ground himself harder into her, riding out the most amazing orgasm of his life. When he was through, he lowered himself as softly as he could onto his side so he didn't crush her. The proceeded to crush her to him fully.

"I love you…" Neither of them knew who said it first, or if it was at the exact same time. But they were both blissfully happy.

oOo

Ginny floated into work at eleven and couldn't even be bothered by the surreptitious looks of her co-workers. In the car over, Snape had been silent as usual, but even he'd smiled when he looked over at her, grinning like an idiot. She felt like going to the roof and screaming and jumping up and down. She wanted to turn and run back out the door to where she'd left Harry in bed.

"You're late." Colin's voice snapped at her as soon as she walked into her office. He was red and sweating. She smiled at him serenely.

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again. There was…a personal situation." She said, walking around her desk.

"I need the revisions you took home last night."

And just like that, her happiness shriveled just a little. She swallowed and turned to face her boss.

"I…I don't have them yet. I didn't-"

"You didn't do them?" Colin demanded. For just a moment, something flickered in his eyes, but Ginny blinked and it was gone.

"I'm sorry. There was a personal-"

"Personal situation. I got it. Listen, I'll take them unrevised. And don't worry about the new Bulls piece. I'm giving it to Mm-Romilda."

Ginny didn't even catch his stutter. "That's my team! You can't give that-"

"I can. I did. Let me know when you want to take your work seriously." With that, Colin strode quickly out her door. Ginny plopped down unceremoniously onto her chair and looked blankly out the door then up to Snape.

Her bodyguard was frowning at the door, as well.

"Do you have something to do?" He asked her softly. She pulled one of her stories out and looked sadly at the partially completed marks on it. Maybe if she finished quickly, Colin could give her another chance…? She nodded dejectedly and reached for a red pen.

"I'll be right back. I'm just stepping out to make a call." Ginny looked after him as he snapped the door shut after him. He sounded distracted. She shook her head, figuring he was off to call Harry and tell him that she was about to get fired. Because she essentially was.

Even though she hadn't done anything. If Colin hadn't given her so much work, she wouldn't have had to take it home. Everyone knew he was over working her. Maybe she should go ahead and quit. She'd at least be able to save her dignity…

Her door swung open and she lifted her head to ask Snape if she should just go, but her words caught before she could say anything.

"What are you doing here?' She asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

oOo

Harry groped the nightstand blindly, feeling for his phone. It was much too loud and he hadn't gotten enough sleep lately. His hand landed on the offending device and he hit the button to answer it, cutting off the incessant ringing. He registered voices coming from the other side of the line before he'd even put the phone up to his ear. His heart stopped cold.

"Seamus…calm down. Is that Snape in the back…? What are…" Suddenly, his head started buzzing and his blood felt like ice in his veins.

"What do you mean she's gone?"


	21. Chapter 21

_Words cannot describe how sorry I am, dear readers. If you're still with me I owe you a heart-felt thanks and an Epilogue. Two Epilogues! Things came up and I forgot about this piece until recently a friend of mine encouraged me to "publish something". _

_Immediately I thought of the work that I'd BEEN publishing and very rudely abandoned. Here is the next chapter of the story. Again, I'm so sorry, but things will get back running smoothly now that I'm back. _

_Thank you for everyone who's reading this right now. I don't own these characters, just the story I put them in. Thanks for staying with me. _

Ginny's first awareness was just that of pain. Pain in her head, her shoulders, her neck. Pain everywhere. She pressed her eyes together and tried to understand where she was…? How she got here…?

"_What are you doing here?" Ginny asked, her voice defeated sounded as she tried to keep it level. _

"_Aw. Little Ginny's having a hard day of work." Romilda's gaudy red lips pursed in a mock pout. "If I actually cared maybe I'd feel worse for doing this, as it is I really don't." Romilda reached in her pocket and pulled out a gun._

_Ginny froze in her chair. _

"_What are you doing?" Her voice was now cold, and definitely shaking. _

"_You understand, don't you. This is my opportunity. I've finally got you alone. Without your fucking bodyguards. We're going to leave the building and you're coming with me." Romilda stepped toward the desk and Ginny involuntarily rose, putting her hands up._

"_Romilda…just think about this before-" Ginny sputtered._

"_You don't think I haven't thought about this?" the woman spat, her voice disturbingly even, like nothing was even happening. "You don't think that I haven't been fantasizing about the day that I could kill Ginny Weasley? THE Ginny Weasley?" Romilda snorted. "Get up. We're leaving." _

Ginny rubbed her fingers together where they were tied behind her to try and regain circulation. Romilda had ushered her into the basement and taken her out a side-door in the alley. Ginny's memory blacked out there, and she knew that Romilda had knocked her out once they'd been outside.

_At least I haven't been shot…?_ She thought, checking her body for sticky spots or blood. A clatter from above her made her head shoot up and she winced as the room spun and her temples pounded. Above her were exposed wooden beams and the walls around her were concrete. A glance around to the wall behind her confirmed her suspicions that she was cuffed to some exposed pipes.

She tried to tug at her arms, but the way she was laying she got not traction and winced as she tweaked the shoulder she was lying on. Her sluggish thoughts bounced in her head and she tried to compile them.

Ron had briefed her on emergency situations. Hell, her mother was famous. She'd been briefed on emergency situations every year since she was five. She closed her eyes again and breathed through her nose, trying to remember what she'd learned.

oOo

"…Call the command center up in Manhattan. I want all of the toll roads alerted that we've got a missing person…"

"…Shacklebolt's with the family. The press wants a statement now about what happened…"

"…Ambulance just arrived at St. Mark's. He'll be unconscious before we can know anything…"

"…then the security tapes got to the lab. Analysis is looking over them, but it's just looking like normal activity…"

Harry listened to the chatter around him and breathed through his nose and out his mouth. This was all well and good, but none of it was going to bring Ginny back. He put his hands in front of him on the table and tried not to punch something. He had gotten himself to the police station in under ten minutes. For what?

Nothing. He was doing Nothing. The people around him were doing Nothing. He knew the protocall for missing persons. He knew the press was all but climbing into the bathroom window to figure out what had happened. He knew Snape was unconscious in the hospital.

But in the end, he didn't really know anything. All the dead ends, all the questions, they were just swirling around in his head. If he'd had one more day maybe…

_No._ Now wasn't the time for that. He needed to get Ginny back. Needed to do it right now. He stood suddenly and the room around him fell silent. Seamus rushed to his side, looking expectantly.

"We're going to case…everywhere. Start with the area around where the call was made and the magazine delivered. Work your way out. I want someone at the office building 24/7. I want those tapes and their findings hand fucking delivered to me when they're done-"

"Agent Potter-" Someone behind him started. Harry whirled around.

"Don't. This is happening and its happening the way I say it will. I know I'm not on the case anymore. Doesn't matter. We find her and we bring her home. If she's not in her apartment in the next three hours, there will be hell."

Harry left it at that. His voice had been hoarse from yelling orders for the past twenty minutes and he knew he still looked like hell from the lack of sleep and food. But damn it he was serious and these idiots had better fucking believe that he would make their lives miserable if this didn't go the way he wanted it. And what he wanted was Ginny Weasley back in his arms in the next three hours. No excuses.

He turned and strode down the hall, eating up carpet. He was going to get his car. He was going to get in his car. Then he was going to track down the Godforsaken bastard that had done this and kill him. Kill him as many times as he needed to. Harry was prepared to go through most of the ammo in the greater New York area to just up and make Swiss cheese out of whoever he found when he got to Ginny.

Finegan was behind him. He heard the younger officer check his gun and nodded in approval.

"Agent Potter! Stop!"

_Fuck that._ Harry didn't even break stride. Stopping for a minute meant one more minute that he wasn't finding Ginny. Wasn't _with_ Ginny. Nope. Not stopping.

"Agent…Harry!" Gasping, an arm gripped Harry's elbow and whirled him around. Officer Longbottom was out of breath and heaving. Harry stared down at him. He and Longbottom were solid, but that would be over in about three seconds if the guy kept holding him up.

"You want to see…It's Ginny's boss. He's here. He's got something…" Longbottom waved vaguely towards the interrogation rooms and Harry ran so fast he practically burned rubber.

oOo

"The little Weasley is so cute when she's asleep."

The mocking voice above her jerked Ginny back into consciousness. That and the bucket of water someone had thrown on her. She gasped and tried to ignore the pain again, ignore the fact that her entire right arm was numb where she was lying on it.

She blinked her eyes open and waited for them to adjust to the light and the water. When they did, they brought the image before her into clear focus. She gasped.

"Surprised to see me, sweet thing?" Michael Corner's taunting voice along with his old name for her sent chills through her.

"What…" Ginny couldn't formulate words. The pair in front of her were baffling. Michael and Romilda? It made no sense.

"Oh, sweetie. You really didn't see this coming, did you? Even after two body guards and five people analyzing your mail…you still had no idea that your past was catching up to you. How sweet."

Romilda's silky, sugary voice made Ginny sick. She shifted her eyes between her two kidnappers. Maybe if she could keep them talking… Maybe it would give Harry enough time to…

Above them, a slow rumble began. Michael swung his gun up the short set of stairs to where a door was set in the wall. Romilda laid a hand on his arm and stroked it lovingly.

"You're so jumpy, honey. It's just Colin back from work. Keep her occupied. I'll take care of this." With that, Romilda bounded up the stairs and left Ginny and Michael alone. Michael paused, watching her go, then swung the gun to Ginny.

"She said keep you occupied, not keep you alive." He sneered down at her. Ginny gasped.

"Why are you doing this, Michael? I know we didn't end on the best terms-"

"Best terms?" He shouted, making her wince and her head throb more. "You were fucking everyone around you to get a job! You were making me look like an idiot trying to get into training while you just snapped your fingers and got down on your whore knees and everything fell into place." Michael spit on the ground next to her head.

"I was always to good for you. I was too good for that fucking school, too good for that fucking team. At least I wised up and realized I was too good for the fucking academy before I had one more piece of my life down the toilet."

Ginny shook her head, trying to get his words straight.

"You think I was cheating on you?" Her teeth chattered around the words as the cold from the concrete and the water sunk into her bones. "How…how could you think that?"

Michael spit again. "I _knew_ it! Everyone knew it! I was the laughing stock of the school, damn even the whole country. They'd already figured out what took me so long to get my head around." Michael licked his lips and brandished the gun, making Ginny shrink more into the wall.

"You're a whore! Just a little celebrity slut who couldn't stand not being in the limelight. Not getting her way. I've found Millie now. She understands me." He shook the gun again. "She _respects_ me, unlike you."

"I don't u-understand." Ginny croaked, her frame wracked with shivers. "How do you even kn-know her? Why…why do you want to d-do this to me?" Her voice was raspy. _Just keep him talking_. She told herself. She needed time. Harry needed time.

Above them, the rumbling started again and he looked up to the ceiling. When he looked back at her, his smile was sinister. The door above them opened and Romilda stepped down.

"Have you two been getting along?" She purred, stepping too close to Michael and running her hands down his arm.

"She was just asking questions." He grunted, his eyes glinting down at the hands on his arm.

"Questions!" Romilda barked, laughing. She looked at Ginny. "I would be, too, if I were you. But then you never were quite as smart as me, were you?" Romilda knelt in front of Ginny and gripped her hair, bringing her head off the floor and a flash of pain to Ginny's skull.

"Draco Malfoy was mine. Mine!" She shook Ginny's head. "I deserved that spot on second string. I deserved the spot in the Flash. You got them all instead." Romilda dropped Ginny's hair and Ginny had to bite her lip to keep from crying out when her head banged on the hard floor.

"You always got what you wanted, didn't you?" Romilda walked back to Michael who smiled at her.

"Told her she was a spoiled bitch. Used to getting her way." He said, looking from Ginny to Romilda and back. Romilda laughed.

"Well, now you're definitely not getting your way, are you?" He asked. "Little whore's all alone with no one to help her. Where's Harry Potter now?" His voice taunted her and her body shook harder. She could feel the edges of her consciousness getting fuzzy. She was so cold…her head was killing her…

She wasn't aware that her eyes had drifted shut until she felt a blinding pain in her ribs. She cried out as a boot connected with her ribs again.

"Am I boring you, little whore?" Michael yelled as Romilda laughed behind him. "You wanna fall asleep, bitch?" He kicked her this time in the stomach and Ginny yelled again. She felt her eyes roll back as her body continued to shake. She was so cold. Everything was getting so dark.

She struggled to keep her focus and tried to lift her head off the floor. Harry needed more time to find her. It hadn't been long enough. She couldn't…not yet. Not like this.

A tear leaked out of her eye as she thought of Harry and the boot landed hard against her body. _He told me that he loves me. Harry loves me…Harry…_

There was a sharp noise above her and Ginny fought the blackness rolling over her. She kept herself awake just in time to hear the sharp _crack_ of a gun and to blink slowly at the pool of blood forming underneath her.

_Another cliff hanger but there will be a new chapter up tomorrow! Let me know what you think! Did anyone see this coming? I know one of you did…_


	22. Chapter 22

_Okay, everyone here ya go! 2__nd__ chapter in two days! I'm thinking this last chapter and then an epilogue. I could be swayed for another chapter if it's next week when I get done with my exams. _

_Anyways, happy reading, everyone! Thanks for the support!_

Ginny blinked her eyes opento take in…nothing. There was nothing but fuzzy white and blue shapes in her vision. She closed her eyes again and blinked them open, clearing them a little. She could make out the bed in front of her. She was lying on a bed…somewhere above her a machine was whirring and beeping.

She closed her eyes again and shifted her head on the pillow trying to find a comfortable position for her stiff neck. As she heard a rustling around her, she tried to remember where she was…and why. How had she gotten into the hospital…?

"She moved! I think I saw her eyes open." Ron's voice startled her and she jerked in the bed, squinting in the direction of his voice. She opened her mouth to talk but her parched throat only emitted a dry groan.

"Ronald Weasley, really! Your sister has had a terrible trauma. I'm sure her head is killing her. Keep your voice down!" Her mother gently scolded him. Ginny turned her head and blinked more to clear her vision as her mother sat beside her and took her hand.

Ron muttered an apology, but Ginny barely heard him over the rush in her head. _Her head… _She swallowed and opened her eyes, blinking the last of the blurriness from her eyes. She gazed at her mother.

"I got shot." She said, her voice stronger, now.

"_What?"_ She heard an echoing voice from her right. "What did she just say?"

There was a commotion as everyone in her room turned their gazes toward the voice and a nurse that Ginny hadn't noticed before rushed forward. Her view was obstructed by her mother, but she only had to wait a second to understand what was going on.

"Mr. Potter, please! We've told you-"

"My fucking ass she got shot! Why the hell does she think she got shot?"

Ginny smiled a little at Harry. Her mother tilted back to look at her, giving Ginny the opportunity to witness the scene before her: the nurse haphazardly trying to block a clearly irate Harry entrance from her room while Hermione tried to pull him back by the shoulders.

"Harry, it's family only right now." Hermione's soothing voice reached Ginny as her mother stood. "Let's go get some coffee."

Molly moved to the opposite end of the room and busied herself with a pitcher of water. Ginny's eyes met Harry's and she watched Hermione's hands sink down as his shoulders visibly relaxed.

"You did not get shot." He told her firmly, his voice rough. He stepped back from the nurse and gently shook Hermione off. "I'm staying here, you can get some coffee if you'd like." He told her, not once taking his eyes off Ginny's prone form.

From across the room, her mother sighed.

"We'll all get some coffee." Molly said, bustling across the room and handing Ginny a paper cup of water. "We'll give you and Harry some time alone." She told her daughter in undertones.

The Weasley men erupted in the room around her, making Ginny smile. Her big brothers were so protective.

"No, when I say all of us, I mean _all_ of us." Molly said, looking pointedly to where Arthur was settling back into his chair. He raised his eyebrows but stood and followed the Weasley boys out of the room, each of them pausing to pat Ginny on the head or whisper and joke or encouraging words.

"We've never let her boyfriends come first before." Arthur muttered to his wife on his way out the door.

"Well this one isn't like the others." Molly whispered back, squeezing her daughter's hand one last time before turning out the door, as well.

"Take care of our girl." She nodded at Harry briskly and kissed his cheek before following her family down the hall like a mother duck herding her ducklings.

Ginny felt her eyes fill at the love she felt from her family. She blinked the tears back and turned her head to where Harry was sitting himself down in the chair her mother had recently vacated. He didn't meet her eyes, rather watching the nurse warily as she tutted at him and reached to ajust Ginny's pillows and check her IV.

"I'm not sure she likes me much." Harry said, turning his gaze, finally, onto Ginny as the woman hurried out the door.

"I wouldn't blame her." Ginny replied. "You're infuriating." She took a sip of water and watched as Harry's shoulders hunched lower and he propped his elbows on the edge of her bed. His gaze was steady and Ginny was a bit unnerved before he finally dropped his head and hissed out a short breath.

"You scared me, Gin." He confessed to the tiles under his feet. "I don't think I've ever…I'm not sure I can even now remember…" Harry sighed and Ginny reached up to run her fingers across his bowed head.

"I'm here. I'm fine." She told him, scooting closer to the edge of the bed. Harry tilted his head up to look at her.

"You're not fine, Ginny." His voice was harsh." You've got three broken ribs and a concussion. There's internal bleeding. You have fucking…you're bleeding internally. You're not fine."

"I feel ok now." She whispered, hating the broken sound to his voice. "You saved me. I'd be worse off if it weren't for you-"

"You're wrong." Harry jerked so he was perched on the edge of his chair and steepled his fingers in front of his face. "I should have worked faster. I could have solved this…I'd…I'd have known who it was and I could have kept you safe. I promised, do you remember? I promised you that I would keep you safe and I wouldn't let them get to you. They did and…I should have stayed more focus-"

"Didn't we just talk about this earlier today?" Ginny forced a laugh into her voice, tugging his hair a bit. "We don't like you focused. You have to take steps back. Harry you did everything right, ok? You did the best you, anyone, actually. You did the best anyone could. I owe you everything."

"Not earlier today, Ginny."

"What?" She frowned.

"You've been out for about thirty-six hours. We talked yesterday morning." He seemed frozen beside her.

"Mmm. Well that would explain why you're all…" Ginny trailed off, fluttering her fingers in his direction. She watched as his face cracked open just a little to reveal a tiny smile.

"All…?" Harry repeated her fingers gesture at her and leaned forward, relaxing by a small increment. "How are you like this right now? You just got…" He trailed off and his face grew tense again.

"It's probably the unbelievably huge amounts of painkillers I've got running through me right now." She replied, flicking the IV tube hanging next to her. "Can't feel a thing!" She tried to smile at him.

He leaned closer and ran a finger softly around her cheek.

"You got hurt, Gin. It was my fault." His voice was barely audible. Ginny reached up to grab his hand to stop him, but he wouldn't be stopped. "I think that this will be my biggest regret. For as long as I live, I'll live with this on my shoulders." He was avoiding her eyes. "I'm…I'm just so sorry, Ginny."

Her stomach twisted and she slapped her hands beside her on the bed, pushing herself up. Harry jerked back in surprise before leaning forward again to try and push her back down.

"Ginny-"

"Harry, it's my body. I can sit up if I want!" As it was, she really couldn't. Not without his help, but in the end they pulled her pillows one way and pushed her around another so she was in a half-sit position facing him more fully. She was breathing hard and Harry's face looked almost comically worried.

Ginny took a breath.

"Ok. Listen, Mr. Macho." She looked down her nose at him and he blinked at her. "This is not your fault? Did _you_ kidnap me? Did _you_ send me death threats? Was it _you _who made all these terrible things happen?" Harry was shaking his head and opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him.

"No. Now you listen. It's listening time. You made this whole thing a thousand times better. If it weren't for you…who knows. Maybe I'd be dead by now."

"_Ginny!"_

"LISTENINGHarry, it's listening time. I'm clearly not dead now. And I'm with you. And what happened was terrible and I expect that I'll have to have one form of counseling or another to get over yet, but the one thing that I know for sure is that this whole thing is _not your fault_! Do you hear me. Nod if you hear me."

Harry nodded.

"Do you love me?" Her voice lowered and Harry started, looking at her with a shocked expression.

"Of course I-"

"Ok. Excellent. I love you, too. Ok? I can't regret the circumstances that brought us together. Do I wish it had been a little easier? Sure. Do I wish that I didn't have a concussion and…what was it?"

"Three broken ribs and intern-"

"Three broken ribs and some internal bleeding. Yes. These things are unfortunate. You are not unfortunate. Your work is not unfortunate. Ok? I have you and I have my family and my ribs might be broken, but hell, at least I've still got them, too. Ok? Do you understand what I'm saying? I love you. This is not your fault. Ok? Yes?"

Harry blinked at her and huffed out a sigh, finally smiling at her fully for the first time.

"You're tough, do you know that?" He asked. She glared at him and he chuckled softly. "Ok. Yes. I hear you. I…I love you, Ginny. More than anything. I'm just so sorry you got hurt." He leaned down and brushed a kiss across her knuckle as he picked up her hand.

"You could kiss me and make it better." She suggested, raising her eyebrows at him, but wincing when the simple movement tightened her skin and sent a shard of pain through her skull. Harry's fingertips gently lowered to smooth her forehead as he reached across and pressed the button to call for the nurse.

"Maybe I'll kiss you when your meds aren't wearing off." Harry muttered, settling back into his chair.

"Just a little peck, even. I'm not picky. Come here, Potter. Pucker up." She smiled softly and tugged with as much force as she could muster on the hand she was holding. It was barely any force at all. Their hands barely moved and Harry scowled at her.

oOo

Ginny smiled weakly at him, but he wasn't buying it. He frowned more deeply when he saw the nurse walk in. She gave him an accusing glare before her eyes flicked to the bed. She gasped.

"Miss Weasley!" She rushed to the bed and began rearranging pillows and lowering Ginny down. "You shouldn't be up right now. Your body needs rest!"

Harry tried to stand and help her, but the nurse all but smacked his hands away, shooting him a dirty look. Ginny laughed, wincing a bit as she did.

"Don't blame my bodyguard. He's just protective of me. It's his job, you know." She raised her eyebrows at the nurse and gasped again in pain. Harry ignored the nurse this time and bent down to look at her. The woman sighed and walked around him to the IV bags.

"Bodyguard or not, Harry Potter or not, he hasn't been anything but trouble to this wing since he got here." The nurse grumbled, fiddling with the tubes while Ginny smirked at Harry.

He shook his head at her. He knew she'd been tough since day one, and since then had learned that she was just absolutely extraordinary, but she was blowing his mind right now.

_I need to just marry her and get it over with_. He thought. _Yeah. Might as well do it soon…_ Because there was no way in hell he was letting go of her now.

"Mr. Potter?" The nurse snapped at him. "Ms. Weasley needs to rest."

Harry looked from her to Ginny, who looked stricken.

"Please not yet." She begged the nurse. "Just five more minutes."

"Ms. Weasley…" The nurse sighed. "Fine. But five minutes is all you're going to get because you'll be out by then, anyways." She pursed her lips at them both before turning on her heel and walking out the door.

"I don't think she likes either of us." Ginny whispered to Harry, who leaned down obligingly close to her. He shook his head.

"You she likes. You're practically a saint with the kidnapping and everything." He stroked his fingers across her hairline where a nasty purple bruise had formed. Ginny sighed.

"Is it all over the papers?" She asked, settling resignedly back into her mattress.

"_All_ over, babe. You're famous." The corner of his mouth quirked into a smile.

"I've always been famous."

"More famous, now." Harry reached his other hand to entwine their fingers.

Ginny snorted. "We should get that poster out. It'll be worth hundreds soon."

Harry looked at her, appalled, as her eyes blinked slowly open and closed. "You aren't coming anywhere near my poster!" He scolded her. "I love that thing. It's mine."

Her lips lifted into a smile as her eyes closed finally. Harry let his thumb run lazily across the pulse on her wrist. He couldn't believe how close he'd come to losing-

He jumped as she jerked her eyes open suddenly.

"Why does everyone think I'm a slut?" She exclaimed, catching him off guard.

"Wha…What? What does that even-"

"Dean and all those other boyfriends always thought that I was cheating on them. The tabloids…that's practically all they talk about isn't it? No one thinks that I'm a normal, decent, upstanding girl with morals." She looked concerned.

"Well, you're not a normal girl. And I don't think you're slutty." Harry laughed and brushed another kiss across her hand. "It's just gossip, Gin. It's not true."

"Michael thought it was true." She told him, her eyes sliding closed again. Then opened. "Where is he?"

"Dead." Harry's face and voice grew hard. Ginny looked at him until he gave her more. "I walked in and saw him standing over you… I took the shot. You don't need to worry about him anymore."

Ginny's brow furrowed and her eyes wandered to the tiled, speckled ceiling above her.

"Michael Corner is dead." She muttered. "It's bizarre."

"He was standing so close to you, he almost fell on top of you."

Ginny blinked at him. "The blood. The last thing I saw was blood spreading on the g-g-g-ground…" she yawned.

"It was his. Is that why you thought you'd been shot?" He asked, stroking her hair back from her face. She made and humming sound.

"You wouldn't let them shoot me. I knew I j-j-j-just had to give you time to find me-e-e-e…" She yawned again and her voice trailed off as she drifted into sleep.

Harry sighed and stayed where he was, watching over her and gently stroking the bruises on her head.

_Ok, it's coming to an end, people! I've got finals, but I'll work on the epilogue and have it out soon! See. I told you I'd get another chapter out today. _


End file.
